The Travel Rule for crypto: what the €1,000 threshold means for you
From 2024, every EU crypto transfer above €1,000 carries counterparty data between the sending and receiving platforms. Here is what gets shared and when.
The Travel Rule is a global AML standard that requires financial institutions to transmit sender and recipient information alongside a transaction, so investigators can later reconstruct the trail. For traditional banks it has existed since the 1990s. For crypto, the EU implemented it via the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR), effective end of 2024.
What data "travels"
For transfers above €1,000 between two regulated crypto service providers (CASPs), the sending CASP must transmit: sender name, sender address, sender account identifier (crypto wallet address or exchange ID), recipient name, recipient address, recipient account identifier. Transfers below €1,000 require only reduced fields.
What triggers the full data flow
Sending from your exchange account to another exchange account for an amount ≥ €1,000 → full Travel Rule. Sending below €1,000 → reduced data. Sending to your own private wallet (self-hosted) → the CASP must still ask you to confirm ownership (an "address attestation") and may limit frequency or amount.
What CASPs can do
Hold or reject a transfer if the receiving CASP does not transmit matching Travel Rule data back. Request additional source-of-funds information from you for repeated large transfers. Report suspicious activity to the relevant Financial Intelligence Unit.
What this is NOT
Not a transaction block — it is a data-exchange requirement. Not applicable to purely-peer-to-peer transfers that bypass CASPs entirely. Not retroactive to pre-2024 transfers (though CASPs can and do request historic data during account reviews).
How to prepare
Keep records of your own wallet addresses and when you funded them. Confirm the identity of your counterparties for any ongoing high-value flows. If you self-custody and move funds frequently, expect a self-hosted-wallet attestation step on your exchange that proves you control the destination.