§1382. Definitions
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) "Fiat currency" means a government-issued currency that is backed by the
government's authority and not by a physical commodity.
(9) "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.
(10) "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.
(11) "Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this Chapter.
(12) "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.
(13) "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.
(14) "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.
(15) "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.
(16) "Office" means the office of financial institutions.
(17) "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.
(18)(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.
(19)(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.
(20) "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.
(21) "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.
(22) "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.
(23) "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.
(24) "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.
(25) "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.
(26) "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.
(27)(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.
(28) "Virtual currency administration" means issuing virtual currency with the
authority to redeem the currency for legal tender, bank credit, or other virtual currency.
(29) "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.
(30) "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.
(31) "Virtual currency kiosk" means an electronic terminal acting as a mechanical
agent of the owner or operator to enable the owner or operator to facilitate the exchange of
virtual currency for fiat currency or other virtual currency, including but not limited to either
of the following:
(a) Connecting directly to a separate virtual currency exchanger that performs the
actual virtual currency transmission.
(b) Drawing upon the virtual currency in the possession of the owner or operator of
the electronic terminal.
(32) "Virtual currency kiosk operator" means a licensee that operates a virtual
currency kiosk within this state.
(33) "Virtual currency kiosk transaction" means a transaction conducted or
performed, in whole or in part, by electronic means via a virtual currency kiosk. Virtual
currency kiosk transaction also means a transaction made at a virtual currency kiosk to
purchase currency with fiat currency or to sell virtual currency for fiat currency.
(34) "Virtual currency network" means any computer or operator having access to
a ledger of exchange, sale, or transfer of one or more virtual currencies.
NOTE: The provisions of Acts 2023, No. 331, will terminate on July 1,
2027. See Acts 2024, No. 700.
NOTE: The provisions of Acts 2023, No. 331, have no termination date. See
Acts 2024, No. 159.