FinCEN and the Fed drop the $250 Travel Rule plan for crypto

FinCEN and the Federal Reserve on Nov. 6, 2026 withdrew their October 2020 proposal to cut the cross-border Recordkeeping and Travel Rule threshold from $3,000 to $250 and to spell out coverage of convertible virtual currency. The Federal Register notice (FR Doc. 2026-22809) is on public inspection and is scheduled for formal publication on Nov. 9. The current $3,000 rules stay; no final rule will issue from that NPRM.

What the 2020 proposal would have changed

In an immediate release on Nov. 6, FinCEN said it is withdrawing the notice of proposed rulemaking on Recordkeeping and Travel Rule obligations for convertible virtual currencies, and that the Federal Reserve Board is withdrawing the proposal jointly. The unpublished Federal Register PDF states that the October 27, 2020 NPRM (85 FR 68005) would have lowered the threshold for collecting, retaining, and transmitting information on funds transfers and transmittals that begin or end outside the United States from $3,000 to $250. It also would have clarified that "money" in those rules covers domestic and cross-border transactions in convertible virtual currency and digital assets with legal tender status.

Those $3,000 Recordkeeping and Travel Rule thresholds remain in force. The agencies say they will not take further action on that NPRM. The withdrawal is separate from FinCEN's same-day order against MEXC, which uses a different statute and targets one platform's U.S. fund rails.

Why FinCEN and the Fed pulled it

The Federal Register withdrawal cites two reasons. First, more than five years have passed since the NPRM, and the agencies want fresh public comment before any similar amendments. Withdrawing the proposal, they write, gives the public certainty that no final rule will issue without another comment period. Second, they point to significant developments in the convertible-virtual-currency industry since 2020, including new legal frameworks, and say any future Travel Rule changes for CVC should be reconsidered in that light.

The agencies received nearly 3,000 comments on the 2020 proposal. Many opposed the $250 threshold as a heavy compliance load, especially for smaller firms, and argued it could disrupt remittances. Views on the CVC clarification were mixed: crypto-service firms largely opposed it; some banks and money-services businesses supported it.

For U.S. banks, money transmitters, and virtual-asset service providers, the practical takeaway is narrow: the long-running "$250 crypto surveillance" scare tied to that NPRM ends without a final rule, while the existing $3,000 Recordkeeping and Travel Rule framework continues. Broader U.S. digital-asset policy fights, from Treasury's report on crypto privacy tools to the CLARITY Act timeline, remain on separate tracks. Formal Federal Register publication is still listed for Nov. 9, 2026.