The Travel Rule is the requirement that identifying information about the originator and the beneficiary travels alongside a transfer between regulated providers, applied to virtual assets through FATF Recommendation 16. In practice a sending provider passes named customer details to the receiving provider, and the receiver expects to have them before making funds available. The threshold, the timing and the exact data set are set by each jurisdiction, not by a single global number.
The Travel Rule governs what passes between providers. Screening governs what you accept from the chain. They meet on the same transfer, and neither covers the other.
Where they separate most sharply is the unhosted wallet. A transfer to or from a self-custody address has no counterparty provider to exchange data with, so there is no Travel Rule message to rely on and the on-chain check is the only control left standing. That is a large share of real crypto flow, and it is why desks that have implemented Travel Rule messaging still screen every address.
The reverse is worth saying too: Travel Rule data tells you who a provider says is sending. It does not tell you where that provider's customer got the money. The chain does.
A result is the on-chain half of the record — the counterparty address, the verdict, the recommendation, the named drivers, the attributed entity, the date. It is not a Travel Rule message and does not replace one, but it is the part of the file that shows what the funds were connected to when you accepted them.
For a single counterparty address, the Telegram bot answers in seconds, free, three checks a day. For a desk, the workspace keeps the same result as a case with an owner and a signed report, and the API runs the check before a deposit is credited.
It varies by jurisdiction and there is no single global figure. Take it from the rules your own supervisor has enacted rather than from a number quoted in an article.
Treatment differs by jurisdiction. Where there is no receiving provider, obligations sit on the regulated side of the transfer, and on-chain screening is the practical control on what you are accepting.
No. The Travel Rule is customer data passed between providers. KYT is screening what the funds themselves are connected to. A firm can be fully compliant with one and blind under the other.
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FATF sets the standard for virtual assets, including Recommendation 16 ([FATF](https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/topics/virtual-assets.html)). Each country implements it in its own law, which is why the details differ from one market to the next.
Send any wallet to the Telegram bot and get a verdict in seconds. Three checks a day, free, no signup. Desks that screen every deposit run it on plans from $199/mo.