As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

            (1) “Acting in concert” means persons who knowingly act together with a common goal of jointly acquiring control of a licensee whether or not pursuant to an express agreement.

            (2) “Affiliate” means any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another person.

            (3) “Applicant” means a person who applies for a license pursuant to this Chapter.

            (4) “Blockchain” means any ledger of exchange, sale, or transfer of virtual currency which is accessible by computers or operators that are part of any virtual currency network.

            (5) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the office of financial institutions.

            (6) “Control”, when used in the context described, means the following:

            (a) When used in reference to a transaction or relationship involving virtual currency, power to execute unilaterally or prevent indefinitely a virtual currency transaction.

            (b) When used in reference to a person, any of the following:

            (i) The direct or indirect power to direct the management, operations, or policies of the person through legal or beneficial ownership of voting power in the person or under a contract, arrangement, or understanding.

            (ii) The power to vote, directly or indirectly, at least twenty-five percent of outstanding voting shares or voting interests of a licensee or person in control of a licensee, including persons acting in concert in such instances.

            (iii) The power to elect or appoint a majority of responsible individuals of a licensee.

            (iv) The power to exercise, directly or indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or policies of a licensee or person in control of a licensee.

            (v) Any other set of facts and circumstances, as determined by the commissioner in his discretion, that may constitute control.

            (7) “Exchange”, when used as a verb, means to assume control of virtual currency from, or on behalf of, a resident, at least momentarily, to sell, trade, or convert either of the following:

            (a) Virtual currency for legal tender, bank credit, or one or more forms of virtual currency.

            (b) Legal tender or bank credit for one or more forms of virtual currency.

            (8) “Insolvent” means any of the following:

            (a) Having generally ceased to pay debts in the ordinary course of business other than as a result of a bona fide dispute.

            (b) Being unable to pay debts as they become due.

            (c) Being insolvent within the meaning of federal bankruptcy law.

            (9) “Legal tender” means a medium of exchange or unit of value, including the coin or paper money of the United States, issued by the United States or by another government if the issuance by another government is not virtual currency.

            (10) “Licensee” means a person licensed pursuant to this Chapter.

            (11) “Mining” means the use of any machine or device to solve any series of complex mathematical equations, problems, or puzzles in binary or nonbinary sequences to add a block to any virtual currency network blockchain which is used to do any of the following:

            (a) Validate sales, exchanges, transfers, or ownership of virtual currency.

            (b) Secure a blockchain or virtual currency network.

            (c) Prevent fraud, theft, or misappropriation of virtual currency.

            (12) “Minting” means the use of any machine or device to authenticate data, add any block, or record any information or data on any blockchain by either of the following:

            (a) Through any protocol.

            (b) Under any terms or conditions of any contract or agreement, or both, to create any virtual currency on a blockchain.

            (13) “Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry” or “NMLS” means the multistate system developed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and owned and operated by the State Regulatory Registry LLC, or any successor or affiliated entity, for the licensing and registration of persons in financial services industries or any other similar online multistate database.

            (14) “Non-fungible token” means any unique digital identifier on any blockchain or virtual currency network used to certify authenticity and ownership rights that cannot be replaced, exchanged, or interchanged with any similar type or category of asset.

            (15) “Office” means the office of financial institutions.

            (16) “Person” means an individual, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, corporation, trust, association, joint stock corporation, or other legal entity, or any individual or group of individuals, however organized. The term shall not include a public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.

            (17)(a) “Regulated financial institution” means a federally insured depository institution and its wholly owned subsidiaries chartered pursuant to the laws of this state, another state, or the United States, a Louisiana state-chartered trust company, a trust company chartered by another state, or a federally chartered trust company.

            (b) “Regulated financial institution” shall not include either of the following:

            (i) An industrial loan company.

            (ii) A trust company chartered by a state with which this state does not have reciprocity governing trust-company activities.

            (18)(a) “Resident” means any of the following:

            (i) A person who is domiciled in this state.

            (ii) A person who is physically located in this state for more than one hundred eighty-three days of the previous three hundred sixty-five days.

            (iii) A person who has a place of business in this state.

            (b) “Resident” shall include a legal representative of a person that meets one of the criteria provided for in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph.

            (19) “Responsible individual” means any individual who is ultimately responsible for establishing or directing policies and procedures of the licensee, including but not limited to an executive officer, manager, director, or trustee.

            (20) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

            (21) “Store”, except in the phrase “store of value”, means to maintain control of virtual currency on behalf of a resident by a person other than the resident. “Storage” and “storing” have corresponding meanings.

            (22) “Tangible net worth” means all business assets minus liabilities and intangible assets, including goodwill and other intangible assets. For the purposes of this Paragraph, an intangible asset may include but is not limited to favorable leasehold rights, trademarks, trade names, internet domain names, and noncompete agreements.

            (23) “Transfer” means to assume control of virtual currency from, or on behalf of, a resident and do any of the following:

            (a) Credit the virtual currency to the account of another person.

            (b) Move the virtual currency from one account of a resident to another account of the same resident.

            (c) Relinquish control of virtual currency to another person.

            (24) “United States dollar equivalent of virtual currency” means the equivalent value of a particular virtual currency in United States dollars shown on a virtual currency exchange based in the United States for a particular date or period specified in this Chapter.

            (25) “Unsafe or unsound act or practice” means and includes but is not limited to a practice or conduct by a person licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity in the state which creates the likelihood of material loss, insolvency, dissipation of the licensee’s assets that materially prejudices the interests of residents, and any other set of facts and circumstances, as determined by the commissioner in accordance with this Chapter and applicable law.

            (26)(a) “Virtual currency” means a digital representation of value that is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value, and that is not legal tender, whether or not denominated in legal tender.

            (b) “Virtual currency” shall not include either of the following:

            (i) A transaction in which a merchant grants, as part of an affinity or rewards program, value that cannot be taken from or exchanged with the merchant for legal tender, bank credit, or virtual currency.

            (ii) A digital representation of value issued by or on behalf of a publisher and used solely within an online game, game platform, or family of games sold by the same publisher or offered on the same game platform.

            (27) “Virtual currency administration” means issuing virtual currency with the authority to redeem the currency for legal tender, bank credit, or other virtual currency.

            (28) “Virtual currency business activity” means any of the following:

            (a) Exchanging, transferring, or storing virtual currency or engaging in virtual currency administration, whether directly or through an agreement with a virtual currency control services vendor.

            (b) Holding electronic precious metals or electronic certificates representing interests in precious metals on behalf of another person or issuing shares or electronic certificates representing interests in precious metals.

            (c) Exchanging one or more digital representations of value used within one or more online games, game platforms, or family of games for either of the following:

            (i) Virtual currency offered by or on behalf of the same publisher from which the original digital representation of value was received.

            (ii) Legal tender or bank credit outside of the online game, game platform, or family of games offered by or on behalf of the same publisher from which the original digital representation of value was received.

            (d) “Virtual currency business activity” shall not include any of the following:

            (i) Mining.

            (ii) Minting non-fungible tokens.

            (iii) Blockchain activities that do not involve any exchange, holding, sale, storing, or transfer of virtual currency to, for, or on behalf of any resident.

            (29) “Virtual currency control services vendor” means a person that has control of virtual currency solely under an agreement with a person that, on behalf of another person, assumes control of virtual currency.

            (30) “Virtual currency network” means any computer or operator having access to a ledger of exchange, sale, or transfer of one or more virtual currencies.

            Acts 2020, No. 341, §1; Acts 2023, No. 331, §1, eff. June 13, 2023.

            NOTE: The provisions of Acts 2023, No. 331, will terminate on July 1, 2025.