US Agencies Scrap $250 Travel Rule Plan, Drop Crypto Language

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Reserve have officially pulled back a 2020 proposal that would have lowered the Bank Secrecy Act threshold for cross-border fund transfers from $3,000 to $250 and explicitly included cryptocurrency under those rules. The existing $3,000 threshold remains unchanged.

A notice published Monday in the Federal Register states that FinCEN and the Fed’s Board of Governors “will not take further action” on the proposal first issued on Oct. 27, 2020.

That plan aimed to reduce the recordkeeping and Travel Rule thresholds to $250 for transfers originating or ending outside the United States. Under current rules, banks and nonbank financial institutions must collect, retain and transmit customer information on transfers of $3,000 or more.

The proposal also sought to clarify that “money” in both rules includes transactions involving convertible virtual currency and digital assets with legal tender status for a recipient.

Reasons behind the agencies' decision

According to the notice, FinCEN and the Fed received roughly 3,000 comments on the proposal, most of which were substantially similar form letters. Commenters largely objected to the lower threshold, saying it would burden smaller institutions and potentially drive consumers sending remittances toward less regulated channels.

Many commenters also pointed out that potentially illicit transfers below $3,000 were already being reported to FinCEN via suspicious activity reports. Some argued the threshold should be raised instead, citing inflation since 1995.

Opinion on the crypto language was divided. Companies offering crypto services and their trade groups opposed it, citing technical limitations and the absence of an international messaging standard for crypto transfers, while some banks and money services businesses supported it.

The agencies cited two reasons for withdrawing the proposal. More than five years had passed, and they noted that additional public feedback would be needed before adopting any similar measure. The withdrawal, they wrote, gives the public “certainty” that no final rule will be issued without another opportunity for comment.

The second reason relates to the crypto industry. The notice states that crypto markets “have continued to mature” and new legal frameworks are emerging, pointing to the GENIUS Act stablecoin law enacted on July 18, 2025. Any future changes tied to crypto, the agencies said, should be considered in light of those developments so they are “fit for purpose.”

What the withdrawal accomplishes and what it does not

The notice does not repeal or amend any existing rule. The $3,000 threshold that has been in place for decades remains, and the current Travel Rule stays as is.

What is eliminated is the specific path to $250 and the proposed language that would have incorporated crypto into the definition of money. The agencies did not indicate whether they plan a new proposal or provided a timeline.

The withdrawal is the latest in a series of reversals from Treasury. On Oct. 6, FinCEN abandoned its 2020 “unhosted wallet” proposal and a 2023 plan to designate international crypto mixing as a primary money laundering concern, a move Coin Center called a significant victory for financial privacy.

This does not signal a retreat from enforcement. On Friday, FinCEN restricted the MEXC exchange from accessing the U.S. financial system over alleged sanctions evasion, using a different legal tool aimed at a single named platform rather than a rule covering all institutions.

Stablecoins are following a separate path. Under the GENIUS Act, the Fed in June proposed customer identification requirements for stablecoin issuers, and FinCEN and the Treasury’s sanctions office proposed anti-money-laundering programs for the same firms in April.

For bitcoin users, the practical effect is that nothing changes: the $3,000 trigger remains, and the crypto-specific language that industry groups opposed is gone for now.

Whether FinCEN and the Fed return with a new threshold, a crypto definition or neither will not be clear until one is published, and the agencies have committed to taking comments first.