Travel Rule | Crypto

Thailand adopted a crypto Travel Rule requiring digital asset operators to verify control of self-custodial wallets and retain transaction data for five years. Thailand is tightening oversight of crypto transfers, including transactions involving self-custodial wallets, as it moves to align with global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards. Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new Travel Rule regulations requiring digital asset operators to collect information about parties involved in crypto transfers, the regulator announced Wednesday. The rules will take effect on Feb. 27, 2027, giving crypto businesses nearly six months to develop systems for transmitting, receiving and monitoring transaction information. Read more

South Korea will remove its 1 million won Travel Rule threshold and apply information-sharing requirements to all transfers between registered crypto service providers. South Korea will expand its crypto Travel Rule to all transfers between registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs), removing the current 1 million won (about $700) threshold. The country’s Cabinet approved amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information on Tuesday. Under the changes, the Travel Rule will apply to all transfers between registered crypto service providers regardless of value. Receiving platforms will also be required to obtain sender and recipient information and may request missing information or reject transactions when required data is unavailable. Read more

Taiwan’s regulator plans to apply the Travel Rule to domestic VASP transfers from October before extending it to overseas platforms by the end of 2027. Taiwan’s financial regulator plans to require crypto platforms to transmit customer information on all domestic platform-to-platform transfers starting in October.  On Tuesday, the Financial Supervisory Commission said its proposed amendments would apply the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Travel Rule regardless of value.  Transfers exceeding 30,000 New Taiwan dollars (about $930) would trigger additional data requirements, including an individual sender’s date of birth and residential address, or a corporate sender’s official identification number and registered address. Receiving VASPs would also be required to compare beneficiary information supplied by the originating platform with their own records.  Read more

South Korea’s FIU is calling for broader crypto transfer reporting rules during FATF talks, citing offshore risks and uneven global AML enforcement. Financial regulators in South Korea are pushing for broader reporting requirements on crypto transfers to further align with global Anti-Money Laundering standards for digital assets. South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) raised proposals to expand the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Travel Rule requirements to smaller crypto transfers during a plenary meeting in Paris last week, according to an announcement on Monday. The crypto Travel Rule is a global AML standard that requires crypto exchanges to share sender and recipient information for transfers above certain thresholds. It is designed to improve the traceability of funds moving between platforms. Read more