Crypto in Hawaii
13 exchanges we have verified serve residents of Hawaii, and 91 of the 150 assets we track are available on at least two of them. We have not recorded a jurisdiction-wide restriction on buying cryptocurrency in Hawaii. Last verified September 2, 2026.
Verified How we verify
Legal Status and Regulation
Hawaii changed course in 2024. After the Digital Currency Innovation Lab concluded on June 30, 2024, the Division of Financial Institutions found that digital currency activity does not fit money transmission under Chapter 489D of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, so from July 1, 2024 no money transmitter license is needed for digital currency activity itself. A license is still required for the US dollar side of the business, which is what most exchanges do. Federal law comes first: a business that exchanges dollars for crypto on your behalf is a money transmitter under 31 CFR 1010.100(ff)(5) and has to register with FinCEN as a money services business, renewing that registration every two years. Hawaii has enacted the Conference of State Bank Supervisors' Money Transmission Modernization Act (S.B. 1325 and H.B. 1027, effective July 1, 2023, in part), the model law that standardizes net worth, surety bond and permissible investment requirements; thirty-one states had adopted it in whole or in part as of the CSBS legislative update dated June 2026. As of September 2026, Binance US lists Hawaii among its fully supported states and Kraken records no Hawaii restriction on its supported-states page.
Exchanges Available in Hawaii
| Exchange | Type | Typical fee on $500 | KYC | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike | broker | $5.55 | Required | Visit Strike |
| Robinhood Crypto | broker | $9.50 | Required | Visit Robinhood Crypto |
| Kraken | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Kraken |
| Crypto.com Exchange | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Crypto.com Exchange |
| Coinbase Exchange | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Coinbase Exchange |
| Uphold | broker | — | Required | Visit Uphold |
| Toobit | centralized exchange | — | Not required | Visit Toobit |
| Gemini | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Gemini |
| Binance US | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Binance US |
| bitFlyer | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit bitFlyer |
Fees are estimated from each exchange’s published schedule for a $500 market buy. Rankings follow our methodology and are not influenced by affiliate relationships.
Popular Assets in Hawaii
Buyability in Hawaii
The 10 coins we have verified an exchange for in Hawaii, graded on how many verified exchanges sell them here and what the cheapest $500 purchase costs. Price never moves a grade.
| Coin | Ticker | Grade | Verified exchanges | Cheapest on $500 | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin | BTC | A | 13 | $2.50 | Bitcoin here |
 Ethereum | ETH | A | 11 | $2.50 | Ethereum here |
 Solana | SOL | A | 10 | $2.55 | Solana here |
 Chainlink | LINK | A | 10 | $2.59 | Chainlink here |
 Bitcoin Cash | BCH | A | 10 | $2.91 | Bitcoin Cash here |
 Litecoin | LTC | A | 10 | $2.65 | Litecoin here |
 Dogecoin | DOGE | A | 9 | $2.53 | Dogecoin here |
 Uniswap | UNI | A | 9 | $2.70 | Uniswap here |
 Polkadot | DOT | A | 9 | $9.50 | Polkadot here |
 Pudgy Penguins | PENGU | A | 9 | $9.50 | Pudgy Penguins here |
Tax Overview
The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property under Notice 2014-21, so selling or swapping it produces a capital gain or loss, short-term if you held the asset a year or less. Hawaii applies no crypto-specific tax rule, so a gain that is taxable federally is reported on your Hawaii individual income tax return and taxed at the state's individual income tax rates. Rates and brackets change from year to year, so check the current Hawaii schedule before you file. Accurate as of September 2026.
Guides
- Crypto Estate Planning: Making Sure Your Coins Aren't Lost With You
Passing on cryptocurrency requires two things that an ordinary will does not provide on its own, a record of what exists and where, and a route by which the person inheriting it can reach the keys, because no court order can recover a seed phrase nobody wrote down.
- Self-Custody vs Exchange Custody: How to Decide
Deciding between self-custody and exchange custody means choosing which failure you would rather be exposed to, a company that loses or freezes your assets or a mistake of your own that nobody can undo, and most people resolve it by splitting holdings rather than picking one for everything.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs vs Buying Bitcoin Directly
A spot bitcoin ETF is a share in a fund that holds bitcoin, bought in a brokerage account and settled like any other listed security, while buying bitcoin directly gives you the asset itself on an exchange and the option to move it into a wallet you control, and the difference is custody rather than exposure.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is cryptocurrency legal in Hawaii?
- 13 exchanges we have verified serve residents of Hawaii. We have not recorded a jurisdiction-wide restriction on buying cryptocurrency in Hawaii. See the regulation section for detail.
- Which exchanges work in Hawaii?
- Strike, Robinhood Crypto, and Kraken serve residents of Hawaii.
- Do I pay tax on crypto in Hawaii?
- The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property under Notice 2014-21, so selling or swapping it produces a capital gain or loss, short-term if you held the asset a year or less. Hawaii applies no crypto-specific tax rule, so a gain that is taxable federally is reported on your Hawaii individual income tax return and taxed at the state's individual income tax rates. Rates and brackets change from year to year, so check the current Hawaii schedule before you file. Accurate as of September 2026.