California's Digital Financial Assets Law became operative on July 1, 2026, and immediately created the country's second full crypto licensing regime. Enacted in 2023 as AB 39 and SB 401 and delayed a year by AB 1934, DFAL requires anyone engaging in digital financial asset business activity, exchanging, transferring, or storing digital assets, with or on behalf of a California resident to hold a DFPI license, have a completed application pending, or fit an exemption; the DFPI opened applications through NMLS on March 9, 2026, expecting roughly $100,000 in tangible net worth and a surety bond starting at $500,000. Timely applicants may keep operating while review is pending. Governor Newsom signed SB 97, a technical clean-up, on June 30, 2026, and the DFPI's broader rulemaking package was disapproved by the Office of Administrative Law in June 2026 and remains in revision, so the statute currently operates ahead of its full regulations.
DFAL also carries the nation's toughest kiosk rules, including a $1,000 daily transaction limit per customer and operator disclosure duties, plus stablecoin approval requirements for coverage of exchange and transfer activity. Given the size of the California market, DFAL functions as a near-national compliance floor the way the BitLicense once did.
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Digital Financial Assets Law
Licensing, supervision, examination, and enforcement for digital financial asset business activity serving California residents, wherever the firm is located: net worth and bonding, custody and disclosure standards, kiosk limits including the $1,000 daily cap, and stablecoin provisions. Applications via NMLS since March 9, 2026; completed application by July 1, 2026 preserves operating ability during review.