How to buy bitcoin in Texas
- Status
- Legal
- State licensing
- No state virtual-currency license required
- Available
- 8 of 9 tracked exchanges
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-23
Two gaps shape buying bitcoin in Texas: Kraken offers Texans no ACH bank funding (wire, debit card, PayPal, and pay wallets still work), and Binance.US skips the state entirely. Odd gaps for the state with the largest bitcoin mining industry in the country and no personal income tax on your gains. The rest of the field is wide open: Coinbase, Gemini, River, Swan, Strike, and Coinmama all serve Texas with normal bank funding. The Department of Banking took the first state position on bitcoin anywhere in America with Supervisory Memorandum 1037 back in 2014, and its January 2025 revision keeps the line: exchanging a decentralized cryptocurrency like bitcoin for dollars is not money transmission, so Texas requires no dedicated virtual currency license.
Best exchanges in Texas
Our national ranking, narrowed to the platforms that actually serve Texas residents. Rankings are never sold.
| # | Exchange | Rating | Fees | ID check | Pay with | Visit or read the review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coinbase | 4.5 | Maker-taker on Advanced Trade | Required | Visit | |
| 2 | Gemini | 4.4 | 0.5% + flat fee on easy buys | Required | Visit | |
| 3 | River | 4.6Bitcoin-only | Free recurring, 1.2% one-off | Required | Visit | |
| 4 | Swan Bitcoin | 4.4Bitcoin-only | About 0.99% per purchase | Required | Visit | |
| 5 | Strike | 4.6Bitcoin-only | Fee shown before you confirm | Required | Visit | |
| 6 | Coinmama | 3.9 | Commission plus card surcharge | Required | Visit | |
| 7 | CEX.IO | 4.0 | Maker-taker; card costs more | Required | Visit | |
| 8 | Kraken | 4.7 | From 0.25% maker, 0.40% taker | Required | Visit |
Why these picks
1. Coinbase The easiest US on-ramp for beginners, publicly listed, and legally in the clear since the SEC dropped its case.
Debit card: Coinbase does not support credit cards for US buys
PayPal: buy/sell via linked bank or card; sell-to-PayPal balance supported
2. Gemini The NYDFS-chartered trust company the Winklevoss twins founded, serving all 50 states including New York, listed on Nasdaq since 2025.
ACH transfer: US customers only; 4-5 business days to clear for withdrawal
Wire transfer: $25.01 minimum, $25 withdrawal fee
Debit card: retail clients only; $1,000/day limit; cannot withdraw fiat to card
PayPal: deposits and instant buys only; no withdrawals to PayPal
3. River US bitcoin-only brokerage with zero-fee recurring buys, phone support and full proof of reserves.
Wire transfer: used for larger purchases
4. Swan Bitcoin DCA-first bitcoin-only platform with 0.99 percent fees, automatic withdrawals to self-custody and Bitcoin IRA options.
Wire transfer: for larger/IRA purchases
5. Strike Lightning-native app for buying bitcoin and sending it anywhere instantly, with no added fee on transfers.
Wire transfer: flat-fee deposits suited to larger amounts
6. Coinmama A card-first broker that sends bitcoin straight to your own wallet instead of holding it for you.
Debit card: credit cards also accepted
7. CEX.IO A card-friendly exchange licensed across most of the US, but currently closed to deposits and trading in Europe.
8. Kraken A 2011-vintage exchange with one of the cleanest security records in the business, heading toward a US stock listing.
Debit card: 72-hour withdrawal hold on first purchase
PayPal: 72-hour withdrawal hold on first deposit
ACH bank transfer via Plaid is not offered to residents of this state; use wire, card, PayPal, or a pay wallet instead.
Not available in Texas
These platforms do not currently accept Texas residents. Their review pages explain what they offer elsewhere.
- Binance.US
Binance.US does not accept residents of this state.
Payment methods in Texas
Which rails work depends on the exchange, and in a few states on where you live; the table above shows exactly which methods each platform takes here.
- ACH transferPrimary
Bitcoin wallets available in Texas
A wallet is where bitcoin lives after you buy it, which is the opposite of the exchanges above: those sell it, these hold it. Every maker below publishes its shipping and eligibility by country rather than by state, so this is United States coverage, and it is the same in Texas as it is everywhere else in the country. The exchange list above is the part that genuinely differs where you live.
Hardware devices
- Keystone 3 Pro$149Air-gapped signing on a 4 inch touchscreen, with three security chips and a fingerprint reader, at $149.
- Ledger Flex$249The Ledger to buy if you want a touchscreen: $249, the same certified chip as the Stax, and more screen pixels than it.
- Ledger Nano S Plus$59Ledger's $59 entry device: the same certified secure element as the $399 Stax, no Bluetooth, and no iPhone support at all.
- Ledger Nano X$79The cheapest Ledger with Bluetooth, now $79 on Ledger's own store, and the one to buy if you want to sign from a phone.
- Ledger Stax$399Ledger's $399 flagship, with the biggest screen it sells and exactly the same secure element as the $59 Nano S Plus.
- Tangem Wallet$59.9A smart card you tap against your phone, sold only in sets of two or three so your backup is another card rather than a written seed.
Desktop and browser
Compare every wallet, including the ones we tell you not to buy
Watch: how to choose an exchange
This is our general video rather than a walkthrough for Texas. It shows the method in two steps: first the country you are buying in, then the exchange. You have done step one by being here, so start from the exchanges ranked above.
We have not filmed a walkthrough for Texas yet, so this is our general one, from our YouTube channel @dontgetrekt. It also sits on the home page, next to the country search it starts from.
Do you need a VPN?
A VPN hides which sites you visit from the network you are on and from your internet provider, which is worth having when you move money over a connection you do not control. It does not get you past an exchange's identity checks: every platform we list verifies who you are no matter where you connect from.
If you want one, the strongest records on our list belong to NordVPN (6 independent no-logs audits, the most of any service we review), Windscribe (its no-logs claim tested in the real world 3 times) and Proton VPN (the most audited service with a free tier).
Legal status and licensing in Texas
Bitcoin is legal in Texas, and the state stands out for what it does not require. Under the Department of Banking's Supervisory Memorandum 1037, first issued in 2014 as the earliest state-level position on bitcoin and revised January 28, 2025, exchanging decentralized virtual currency such as bitcoin for sovereign currency is not money transmission under the Money Services Modernization Act, so plain bitcoin exchange carries no dedicated state license. Stablecoin activity is scrutinized more closely, and federal FinCEN rules apply everywhere.
Taxes in Texas
Texas levies no personal income tax, so the state takes nothing when you sell bitcoin at a profit. Federal capital gains tax still applies to every sale.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Does Texas require a license to run a bitcoin exchange?
Not a dedicated one for plain bitcoin trading. Supervisory Memorandum 1037 from the Texas Department of Banking holds that exchanging decentralized virtual currency for dollars is not money transmission, though stablecoin business generally does trigger licensing. Federal registration with FinCEN still applies.
Why is Binance.US unavailable in Texas?
Binance.US does not accept Texas residents, one of twelve states it currently skips. Coinbase, Gemini, River, Swan, Strike, and Coinmama all serve Texas normally, so the gap is easy to route around.
How do Texans fund Kraken without ACH?
Kraken does not offer ACH bank transfers to Texas residents, so use a wire transfer, debit card, PayPal, or a supported pay wallet instead. If free bank funding matters most to you, Coinbase and Gemini both take ACH from Texas banks.
Is there Texas state tax on bitcoin gains?
No. Texas has no personal income tax, so nothing is owed to the state when you sell. You still owe federal capital gains tax on any profit.