Summary: You can buy Bitcoin in California three ways: through an online exchange, at a Bitcoin ATM kiosk, or at a staffed counter. Exchanges need ID and a linked bank account and pay out to your bank in days. Kiosks take cash on the spot, but state law caps them at $1,000 per customer per day and their markups run high. Staffed counters take cash up to $50,000 a day with ID, show the rate and the fee on screen before you pay, and send the coins to a wallet you control.
What changed: the Digital Financial Assets Law
California passed AB 39, the Digital Financial Assets Law, in 2023. Two parts of it affect you directly when you buy.
- Kiosk limits. Since January 1, 2024, a Bitcoin ATM in California cannot accept or dispense more than $1,000 from or to one customer in a day (Financial Code §3902). Since January 1, 2025, kiosk fees are capped at the greater of $5 or 15% of the US dollar equivalent of the assets traded (§3904), and the receipt has to show the fee and the spread against a licensed exchange price (§3905). Full breakdown of the kiosk rules.
- Licensing. Since July 1, 2026, businesses that exchange, transfer or store digital assets for Californians need a DFPI license or a pending application on file. You can check a company's status on the DFPI website. The Bitcoin Store's application is on file with the DFPI and pending review; the stores operate as a FinCEN-registered Money Services Business.
The $1,000 cap applies to unattended kiosks. It does not apply to a staffed counter where a person verifies you and executes the trade with you, which is why the two are different products under the law.
Option 1: crypto exchanges in California
Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini all serve California, and so do brokerage apps like Robinhood and Cash App. You open an account, verify your identity, link a bank account or card, and buy.
What you pay. A trading fee plus a spread between the price you see and the market. Instant card buys cost more than bank-funded buys. For larger amounts funded by bank transfer, the all-in cost is usually the lowest of the three options.
Where it falls short. No cash. Bank transfers take days to clear before you can withdraw coins. Your coins sit in the exchange's custody until you move them, and accounts get frozen for compliance reviews with no warning. If you want to hold your own keys, you still have to set up a wallet on your own.
Good for: recurring buys from a bank account, and people comfortable doing everything in an app. If that is not you, keep reading.
Option 2: Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin ATMs sit in gas stations, markets and convenience stores across the state. COINworKs, the company behind The Bitcoin Store, runs 97 of them in California, from Sacramento and Stockton to San Jose, Fresno and Modesto. You scan your wallet's QR code, feed in cash, and the machine sends the coins.
What you pay. Kiosk markups commonly run 8% to 20% above the market rate, sometimes with a flat fee on top. California now caps the fee at 15%, which tells you where the industry was before the cap.
Where it falls short. The $1,000 daily cap. Most machines are buy-only, so they cannot help you when you want to sell. And because nobody is standing next to the machine, kiosks are the tool scammers point their victims at. If someone told you to feed cash into a machine and send the coins to an address they gave you, stop and read our scam awareness guide first.
Good for: a small buy, late at night, close to home.
Option 3: a staffed counter
A Bitcoin store is a staffed retail counter. You walk in with cash and a government photo ID, a person quotes you the live market rate and shows the trade fee on screen, you approve it, and the coins go to your own wallet before you leave. If you have no wallet yet, staff set one up with you.
Here is how it works at The Bitcoin Store in San Jose and Stockton:
- Cash up to $50,000 per day per customer, with ID. Larger amounts settle by bank wire, normally the same day through the OTC desk.
- Both directions. You can sell Bitcoin for cash the same visit, which almost no kiosk in California can do.
- One trade fee, shown before you pay. The full math is on screen and the receipt matches it.
- A person who asks questions. Staff are trained to spot the 5 common scams and will stop a transaction that looks like one.
Store hours matter: unlike a kiosk, a counter is open during business hours, and the trade takes about ten minutes.
Side by side
| Exchange | Bitcoin ATM | Staffed counter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay with | Bank transfer or card | Cash | Cash, or wire for large trades |
| Daily limit | Set by the exchange | $1,000 (California law) | $50,000 cash; more by wire |
| What you pay | Trading fee plus spread | 8% to 20% markup is common | One trade fee, shown on screen first |
| Coins in your wallet | After the bank transfer clears | Minutes | Before you leave |
| Can you sell? | Yes, paid out in days | Rarely | Yes, cash the same visit |
| ID | Yes | Phone number, ID above small tiers | Government photo ID |
Buying Bitcoin with cash in California
Cash leaves you two doors: a kiosk or a counter. Below $1,000 and outside store hours, a kiosk works. For anything larger, or if you want a person to check the transaction with you, the counter is the door. Bring the cash and your ID, and count on about ten minutes. We serve the Bay Area and the Central Valley from two stores; see the drive times from the East Bay, San Francisco, South Bay and Peninsula, Sacramento, Central Valley, Delta and Contra Costa and Santa Cruz and South County.
Check these before you buy anywhere
- Registration. Look the business up in FinCEN's MSB registrant search. The Bitcoin Store's registration number is 31000320937750.
- DFPI status. Licensed, or application on file. Ask, and check the DFPI list.
- The fee, before you pay. If you cannot see the rate and the fee before money moves, walk away.
- A receipt that shows the same numbers.
- Your own wallet. Coins should land in a wallet whose keys you hold, not in an account someone else controls.
- Nobody told you to do this. No government agency, utility, bank or tech-support desk collects payment in Bitcoin. If someone did, it is a scam.
Questions people ask
Is it legal to buy Bitcoin in California?
Yes. Buying, holding and selling Bitcoin is legal in California. The state regulates the businesses you buy from: since July 1, 2026 the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) licenses digital financial asset businesses under the Digital Financial Assets Law, and federal law requires cash-to-crypto businesses to register with FinCEN as Money Services Businesses.
Do I need ID to buy Bitcoin in California?
For anything beyond small amounts, yes. Exchanges verify your identity when you open the account. Kiosks ask for a phone number and, above their small tiers, an ID scan. Staffed counters check a government photo ID on every trade because they are registered Money Services Businesses. A no-ID purchase means no record and no recourse if something goes wrong.
Can I buy more than $1,000 of Bitcoin a day in California?
Not at a kiosk. California's Digital Financial Assets Law caps Bitcoin ATM transactions at $1,000 per customer per day. The cap applies to unattended kiosks, not to staffed counters. At The Bitcoin Store you can trade up to $50,000 in cash per day with ID, and larger amounts settle by bank wire through the OTC desk.
Which crypto exchanges work in California?
The large US exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini, serve California customers, along with brokerage apps such as Robinhood and Cash App. All of them require identity verification and a linked bank account or card, and none of them take cash. Check the DFPI's list of licensed digital financial asset businesses before you fund an account.
The bottom line
An exchange usually costs the least for large amounts funded from a bank account, if you are comfortable doing it alone. A kiosk is the fastest way to turn a small amount of cash into Bitcoin. A staffed counter is the way to buy with cash above the kiosk cap, with a person who does the trade with you and shows you the math first. In Northern California, that counter is in downtown San Jose and Stockton.