Mo’s bank rails run through Dakota, a regulated payments partner. Dakota publishes a list of activities and industries it will not bank, and that list applies to your Mo virtual account, your deposits, and your withdrawals.
This article covers the fiat side only. Holding, sending, receiving, Earn, Trade, and Travel do not touch a bank and are not governed by these categories, though Mo’s Terms still apply everywhere.
Prohibited activities
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Unlawful activity | Anything that breaks applicable law, regulation, or sanctions, including OFAC requirements. |
| Abusive or harmful activity | Disrupting the service, introducing malware, accessing an account you do not own, or sharing an account without approval. |
| Fraud or misrepresentation | Giving false, inaccurate, or incomplete information when opening or operating an account. |
| Gambling | Lotteries, sports betting, fantasy sports with cash prizes, and games of chance that are not authorized by a regulator. |
| Intellectual property violation | Infringing copyright, trademarks, or privacy rights. |
Restricted industries
Businesses operating in these sectors cannot be onboarded for bank rails:
- Adult entertainment, including explicit content and related services
- Cryptocurrency ATM operation
- Metal and mineral wholesale, with the exception of petroleum
- Weapons and chemical manufacturing
- Cannabis, whether or not it is legal where the business operates
- Jewelry, silverware, and precious stone retail and wholesale
- Other high-risk businesses presenting elevated financial or regulatory concern
Cannabis is the one people query most often. A legal, licensed dispensary is still outside what the partner will bank, and being lawful locally does not change that.
The last row is deliberately open. Partner compliance reviews businesses individually, and an industry not named above can still be declined on the facts of the application.
Why the list exists
Mo is not a bank. It reaches the banking system through a partner, and that partner reaches it through its own sponsor bank. Each layer inherits the restrictions of the one above it. The categories above are the ones a US sponsor bank will not accept, so they land on Mo too.
The same logic explains the country restrictions. Those are published separately, and the current list is on the compliance page.
What happens if an account falls inside the list
An application declared inside a prohibited category is declined at KYC. An account discovered inside one later can have its bank access closed, and pending deposits or withdrawals may be returned to their source.
Your self-custodial wallet is a separate matter. Mo does not hold your assets and cannot seize them; what closes is the fiat pathway, not the balance.
If you are unsure whether your business fits, ask before you apply. Write to support@mo.xyz with a plain description of what the business does, who its customers are, and where its money comes from. A declined application is harder to unwind than a question asked early.