FinCEN and Fed withdraw $250 crypto Travel Rule proposal

FinCEN and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have withdrawn a 2020 proposal that would have lowered the Travel Rule reporting threshold from $3,000 to $250 and expanded collection requirements for smaller funds transfers, including convertible virtual currency, The Block reported on 6 November 2026.

The existing $3,000 threshold remains in place. The agencies said more than five years had passed since the proposal, the crypto industry had changed, and fresh public input would be needed before any future amendments.

What the withdrawn proposal would have done

When the rule was proposed, FinCEN argued that illicit actors were increasingly using smaller transactions. Crypto advocacy groups, including Coin Center, warned that a $250 threshold would pull ordinary transfers into broader surveillance. The Block quoted Coin Center welcoming the withdrawal alongside earlier pullbacks of unhosted-wallet and mixing proposals.

Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim told The Block the withdrawal was the “right call,” saying a $250 cross-border threshold would have placed undue burden on institutions. That is an industry reaction, not a regulatory finding.

Why the agencies cited age and industry change

In the filing language relayed by The Block, FinCEN said any future Recordkeeping Rule or Travel Rule amendments related to convertible virtual currency should be considered in light of recent developments so they are “fit for purpose.” The Block’s report does not replace reading the Federal Register notice itself for effective dates and exact legal text.

How this sits beside the MEXC order

The same week Treasury cut off MEXC Global over said illicit flows, FinCEN and the Fed walked back a surveillance-threshold expansion that had sat unfinished since 2020. The two actions address different tools: one is an exchange-specific funds-transfer ban, the other is a withdrawn industry-wide proposal. Neither is investment advice.