FinCEN withdraws unhosted wallet reporting and crypto mixing proposals

• FinCEN withdrew a December 2020 proposal that would have required banks and money services businesses to keep records on self-custodial wallet transfers above $3,000 and report those above $10,000.
• The agency also withdrew an October 2023 finding that would have designated international crypto mixing a primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.
• Neither proposal was finalized, so existing obligations are unchanged, though FinCEN said it will keep monitoring mixer activity and may act later.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network withdrew two long-pending digital-asset proposals on Monday, closing a 2020 plan to report large transfers to self-custodial wallets and a 2023 effort to treat international crypto mixing as a primary money laundering concern.

In an Oct. 5 announcement, FinCEN said it had considered public comments and was withdrawing both proposals “as part of the Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda and ongoing efforts to ensure digital asset regulations are fit-for-purpose.” The notices are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Oct. 6, 2026.

The older rule, originally published at 85 FR 83840 on Dec. 23, 2020, would have required banks and money services businesses to verify customer identity, keep records, and file reports on certain convertible virtual currency transactions involving unhosted wallets. Coin Center, which opposed the proposal for years, said it would have forced institutions to collect counterparty information on unhosted-wallet transfers above $3,000 and report those exceeding $10,000. The withdrawal notice states that FinCEN will take no further action on that notice of proposed rulemaking.

A separate withdrawal notice, signed by FinCEN Deputy Director Jimmy L. Kirby, rescinds the agency’s finding that international convertible virtual currency mixing is a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern. The original proposal, published at 88 FR 72701 on Oct. 23, 2023, would have imposed a special measure requiring covered institutions to apply enhanced recordkeeping and reporting, including customer identity details such as name, date of birth, address, email address, or unique identifying numbers.

FinCEN said commenters warned that the “expansive definition of CVC mixing” could have a “chilling effect on legitimate activity” and place a large reporting burden on covered financial institutions. The notice quotes the administration’s position that it “supports the ability of lawful users of digital assets to privately transact on a public blockchain,” while noting that illicit actors still use mixers. The agency said it “will continue to monitor activity involving CVC mixers” for money laundering, terrorist financing, or other illicit finance and “may take appropriate steps in the future.”

Because neither proposal was finalized, the withdrawals do not change financial institutions’ existing Bank Secrecy Act obligations. Coin Center called the decision “a significant victory for financial privacy.” Executive director Peter Van Valkenburgh wrote on X that both rules were “officially withdrawn,” but added that “the underlying statutory authority to create new, similar bad rules remains.”