FinCEN and Fed Withdraw $250 Cross-Border Travel Rule Plan

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Reserve Board are withdrawing a 2020 plan that would have cut the threshold for collecting, retaining and transmitting information on cross-border funds transfers from $3,000 to $250, a Federal Register public-inspection notice filed Friday shows.

The agencies said they will not take further action on the joint notice of proposed rulemaking published Oct. 27, 2020. The withdrawal is scheduled for Federal Register publication on Nov. 9. The existing $3,000 Recordkeeping Rule and Travel Rule thresholds stay in place.

What the 2020 plan would have changed

Under Bank Secrecy Act rules often called the Recordkeeping Rule and the Travel Rule, banks and nonbank financial institutions must collect, keep and pass on sender and recipient details for funds transfers of $3,000 or more. The 2020 proposal would have lowered that bar to $250 for transfers that begin or end outside the United States. FinCEN also proposed clarifying that "money" in those rules covers domestic and cross-border transactions in convertible virtual currency and digital assets with legal tender status.

The agencies received nearly 3,000 comments. Most opposed the lower threshold, citing burden on smaller institutions, remittance costs and weak supporting data, the withdrawal notice says. Views on applying the rules expressly to crypto were mixed: crypto service firms often objected on technology and messaging standards, while some banks and money services businesses supported that piece.

FinCEN and the Fed gave two reasons for pulling the file. More than five years have passed, and they want fresh public comment before any similar rewrite. They also pointed to newer crypto frameworks, including the GENIUS Act stablecoin law enacted in July 2025, and said future Travel Rule changes for crypto should fit those developments.

In our opinion: $3,000 is still the live Travel Rule line for these transfers. Nov. 9 is when the withdrawal hits the Federal Register; any crypto-specific rewrite would need a fresh comment round after GENIUS-era stablecoin rules.