FinCEN and the Fed Drop the $250 Crypto Transfer Rule, Keeping the $3,000 Threshold

Published November 7, 2026, 6:20 AM PKT. Based on the joint withdrawal notice filed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on November 6, 2026 (primary source), with reporting by news.bitcoin.com and Coindoo on November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting).

The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Federal Reserve Board filed a joint notice on Friday, November 6, 2026, withdrawing a 2020 proposal that would have cut the threshold for collecting and passing on information about cross-border transfers from $3,000 to $250, including transfers of Bitcoin ($BTC) and other convertible virtual currencies. The withdrawal takes effect when the notice is published in the Federal Register on Monday, November 9, 2026, and the agencies said they "will not take further action" on the proposal.

The $250 plan is dead, the $3,000 line stays

The proposal, published October 27, 2020, would have changed two Bank Secrecy Act rules. The Recordkeeping Rule requires banks and nonbank financial institutions to collect and retain information on funds transfers of $3,000 or more, and the Travel Rule requires them to pass specified information to the next institution in the payment chain. The 2020 plan would have lowered both thresholds to $250 for transfers that begin or end outside the United States, while domestic transfers would have kept the $3,000 threshold. It would also have spelled out that the rules cover domestic and cross-border transactions involving convertible virtual currency and digital assets with legal tender status, by revising the definitions of "payment order" and "transmittal order" to say the rules apply to them. The withdrawal notice, filed for public inspection on November 6 and signed by FinCEN Deputy Director Jimmy L. Kirby and Federal Reserve Board Secretary Benjamin McDonough, carries the document number FR Doc. 2026-22809 and the regulation identifier RIN 1506-AB41.

Nearly 3,000 comments, most of them opposed

The agencies received nearly 3,000 comments on the proposal from banks, money services businesses, trade associations, individuals and others, and a significant majority were substantially similar form letters. Commenters generally opposed cutting the threshold, arguing it would impose a heavy compliance burden, especially on smaller institutions, disrupt overseas remittances, push consumers toward less regulated marketplaces, and force institutions to hold far more personal information with greater liability exposure. Several noted that some potentially illicit transfers below $3,000 were already reported to FinCEN through Suspicious Activity Reports, and others said the $3,000 threshold, set in 1995, should rise with inflation rather than fall. A number of commenters also said the plan would amount to an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Views split on the crypto provision: companies that provide convertible virtual currency services and their trade groups generally opposed spelling out crypto coverage, citing technological limits and the lack of an international messaging standard for crypto transactions, while some banks, money services businesses and associations supported it.

Six years later, the agencies walked away

The notice gives two reasons for the withdrawal. First, more than five years passed since the proposal was published, and the agencies said fresh public feedback would be useful before adopting similar changes, adding that no final rule will be issued without another opportunity for public comment. Second, the crypto industry has changed since 2020. The notice points to maturing convertible virtual currency markets and new legal frameworks, including the GENIUS Act, the federal payment stablecoin law enacted July 18, 2025, and the White House digital assets report published the same month. The agencies said any future crypto related changes to the two rules should account for those developments. The withdrawal closes the last open piece of a wider rollback: FinCEN withdrew a separate 2020 proposal covering transactions with self-hosted wallets last month, along with a 2023 proposal for enhanced reporting on crypto mixing, news.bitcoin.com reported. The wallet proposal would have added recordkeeping for certain transactions above $3,000 and reporting for those above $10,000.

What does not change for crypto users

Nothing changes in what exchanges and banks must collect today. The $250 threshold never took effect, so the existing $3,000 threshold stays in place, including for qualifying crypto transfers under FinCEN's 2019 guidance, which treats convertible virtual currency transactions by money transmitters such as exchanges as covered transmittals of funds. The withdrawal does not repeal the Recordkeeping Rule or the Travel Rule, and exchanges must still meet current anti-money laundering and customer identification requirements. The practical effect is certainty: the six-year-old proposal can no longer become a final rule without a new proposal and a new comment period, and any future attempt to lower the threshold would have to start that process over.

Sources

• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Threshold for the Requirement to Collect, Retain, and Transmit Information on Funds Transfers and Transmittals of Funds That Begin or End Outside the United States, and Clarification of the Requirement to Collect, Retain, and Transmit Information on Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies and Digital Assets with Legal Tender Status; Withdrawal, filed November 6, 2026, publication November 9, 2026 (primary source: joint withdrawal of the October 27, 2020 notice of proposed rulemaking, 85 FR 68005, threshold would have fallen from $3,000 to $250 for cross-border transfers, clarification that the rules apply to convertible virtual currency and digital assets with legal tender status, nearly 3,000 comments with a significant majority in form letters, two reasons for withdrawal, GENIUS Act enacted July 18, 2025 and White House July 2025 digital assets report, "The Agencies will not take further action on this NPRM", signed by FinCEN Deputy Director Jimmy L. Kirby and Federal Reserve Board Secretary Benjamin McDonough, FR Doc. 2026-22809, RIN 1506-AB41)
• news.bitcoin.com, US Treasury and Fed Abandon Plan to Track Smaller Bitcoin, Crypto Transfers, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: joint withdrawal notice filed November 6, withdrawal takes effect on publication November 9, commenters challenged compliance costs and risks to personal information, separate wallet and mixer proposal withdrawals last month, wallet proposal would have added recordkeeping above $3,000 and reporting above $10,000)
• Coindoo, U.S. Drops $250 Crypto Transfer Plan, Keeps Travel Rule, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: FinCEN and Fed Board withdraw the $250 threshold plan, nearly 3,000 comments with most opposing the cut, $3,000 Travel Rule threshold stays, agencies say no final rule will be issued without an additional opportunity for public comment)
• KuCoin, U.S. Treasury and Fed Withdraw 2020 Plan to Lower Cross-Border Transfer Threshold to $250, November 6, 2026 (secondary reporting: notice filed for public inspection November 6, publication November 9, agencies cited the proposal's age and changes in the crypto industry, GENIUS Act framework cited, earlier withdrawal of wallet and mixer proposals)

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.