US to cut reporting threshold for international transfers to $250, including Bitcoin

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the U.S. Federal Reserve proposed to substantially reduce the threshold for cross-border transactions above which users would be required to report the source of funds and banks would exchange information about their customers.

Under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines, financial institutions are required to exchange information about clients for transactions above a certain size. Cryptocurrency exchanges were included in this category in 2019.

The threshold of $3,000 was set by U.S. regulators back in 1995. According to a statement published on Friday, October 23, this amount is proposed to be reduced to $250. For transactions within the United States, the $3,000 threshold will remain unchanged.

The proposed changes would also apply to cryptocurrency transactions. As stated in the document, money in this context includes “convertible virtual currencies” that function as an equivalent or substitute for currency but do not have official status, and also “digital assets that have the status of legal tender”.

Comments on the proposal will be accepted over the next 30 days.

In September, FinCEN director Kenneth Blanco urged banks to take seriously the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and to revisit their AML procedures.

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