US Scraps $250 Crypto Travel Rule Plan, Keeps $3,000 Threshold
FinCEN and the Federal Reserve withdrew their 2020 plan to track smaller cross-border transfers. Existing Travel Rule requirements remain in place.
Key Notes
- FinCEN and the Federal Reserve are withdrawing their 2020 proposal to lower cross-border information-sharing thresholds to $250.
- Existing Travel Rule requirements for qualifying transfers of $3,000 or more remain in force.
- The withdrawal takes effect upon Federal Register publication scheduled for November 9.
The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Reserve have abandoned a proposal to extend customer-information requirements to smaller international transfers, closing a rulemaking process that began in 2020.
The decision leaves the existing $3,000 Travel Rule threshold intact. The proposed $250 threshold never became a binding requirement, and the withdrawal does not repeal the rules already applying to covered financial institutions.
FinCEN announced the withdrawal on November 6. The joint notice is scheduled for Federal Register publication on November 9, when the withdrawal takes effect.
What the $250 Proposal Would Have Changed
Published on October 27, 2020, the proposal would have lowered the threshold for collecting and retaining information on transfers beginning or ending outside the United States from $3,000 to $250. FinCEN also proposed the same reduction for information that must accompany a transfer through the payment chain.
The lower threshold targeted cross-border activity. The proposal separately sought to clarify the definition of money to expressly cover domestic and international transactions involving convertible virtual currencies and digital assets with legal-tender status.
Withdrawing that proposed clarification leaves FinCEN’s existing interpretations in place. Its 2019 crypto guidance already explains that qualifying virtual-currency transfers can fall under the Travel Rule.
Why Regulators Abandoned the Plan
The joint notice gives two principal reasons. More than five years have passed since the proposal, and the agencies want further public feedback before adopting similar amendments. Crypto markets have also matured, while new legal frameworks have emerged, including the GENIUS Act’s payment-stablecoin framework enacted in July 2025.
The agencies received nearly 3,000 comments, although a substantial majority were similar form letters. Many respondents argued that a $250 threshold would significantly increase compliance costs, particularly for smaller institutions, disrupt overseas remittances and expand liability associated with holding personal information.
Other commenters questioned whether the agencies had supplied enough evidence to justify the change. Some noted that suspicious transfers below $3,000 could already be reported through existing suspicious-activity reporting requirements.
Those objections concerned burdens on financial institutions and their customers. The notice does not declare the existing Travel Rule obsolete or suspend its enforcement.
What Information Still Travels With a Payment
Under FinCEN’s existing guidance, qualifying transfers of $3,000 or more require covered institutions to pass specified information along the payment chain. That includes the sender’s name, address and account number if used, alongside transaction and financial-institution details. Recipient information must also be passed on when received.
This is information sharing between institutions, rather than a requirement to publish a customer’s identity on a blockchain. The Travel Rule itself does not require reporting every covered transfer to the government, although separate suspicious-activity reporting obligations can apply.
The decision follows FinCEN’s October withdrawal of separate wallet and mixer proposals. It closes another pending initiative while preserving the underlying compliance framework. Any similar amendments would face another opportunity for public comment.
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