What is the FATF travel rule?
FATF Recommendation 16 (the "travel rule"), extended to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in 2019, requires originator and beneficiary information to travel with a transfer above a de minimis threshold (USD/EUR 1,000 default, lower in some regimes). For virtual asset transfers between VASPs the rule was historically hard to implement because blockchain-native transfers do not carry counterparty identity. Industry standards such as IVMS 101 and various technical protocols (TRP, TRISA, OpenVASP) emerged to fill the gap.