Bitcoin in Maine: what to know
Maine limits crypto ATM (kiosk) purchases: $1,000/day per customer. Crypto gains are taxed as ordinary income. The state does not accept crypto for tax payments.
Bitcoin has one price in US dollars across the country: the price on this page is the same as on the bitcoin price in the United States page, where federal tax rules are covered in full. What differs in Maine is state law and tax, explained below.
Crypto ATMs in Maine
The Virtual Currency Kiosk Act (PL 2025 c. 285, LD 1339) took effect June 12, 2025. It requires a money transmitter license and caps fees at the greater of $5 or 3%. Operators must fully refund transactions made in a customer's first 90 days with them, including fees, when statutory fraud-reporting conditions are met. A 2026 law (PL c. 542) bars registered cash-dispensing machines from acting as crypto kiosks unless the operator is a licensed money transmitter. Scammers often tell victims to pay through crypto ATMs: no government agency, bank or utility asks for payment in bitcoin.
Buying bitcoin in Maine
Exchanges and other crypto businesses serving Maine residents generally need a state money-transmitter license. Buying bitcoin carries no sales tax; you pay the exchange's spread and fees.
Tax on bitcoin in Maine
Crypto gains are taxed as ordinary income. The state does not accept crypto for tax payments. Federally, the IRS treats bitcoin as property: selling, trading or spending it is a taxable event, with short-term gains (held a year or less) taxed as ordinary income and long-term gains at 0%, 15% or 20%; bitcoin received as pay or from mining is income. Exchanges and other custodial brokers report sales on Form 1099-DA: gross proceeds for sales from 1 January 2025, and cost basis for many sales from 1 January 2026. Every Form 1040 asks whether you received or disposed of a digital asset.
Legal and tax information last reviewed October 2026. Crypto rules change quickly — check with the regulator or tax authority, or a qualified adviser, before acting. This is not tax, legal or investment advice.