Travel compliance on the rise thanks to new regulations and stablecoin payments, Notabene research finds

Nota Bene says travel compliance increases thanks to new rules and stablecoin payments

An annual survey of cryptocurrency companies conducted by Notabene found that almost all survey participants expect the Travel Rule to be implemented by mid-2025.

Author: Ian Ellison | Edited by: Sheldon Reback Updated: April 23, 2025, 1:11 pm Published: April 23, 2025, 1:00 pm

Important points:

• An unprecedented 100% of VASPs surveyed by Notabene confirmed that they will comply with the Travel Rules by the end of the year.
• The share of VASPs that block withdrawals until beneficiary information is confirmed increased to 15.4%, up from 2.9% last year.
• The increasing popularity of stablecoins as a means of payment is one of the factors contributing to compliance.

Almost all cryptocurrency companies will be required to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) transparency rules this year, a set of requirements regarding the exchange of certain information about the sender and beneficiary of transactions known as the “Travel Rule,” according to an annual survey by crypto anti-money laundering specialist Notabene.

Notabene surveyed 91 virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and 10 regulators for its 2025 Travel Rules report. A full 90% of respondents said they expect full compliance with travel rules by mid-year, and all confirmed they will comply with the rules by the end of the year.

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“This is the only time we’ve seen 100% of respondents say, ‘Yes, this is the year, and we’re committed,’” Sascha Lowenthal, Notabene’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview.

Notabene also found a significant increase in the number of VASPs blocking withdrawals until beneficiary information is confirmed, from 2.9% in 2024 to 15.4% today. In addition, about a fifth of VASPs now return deposits if the sender does not provide the required details.

The Travel Rule has become more of a priority for companies since the US has taken a favorable stance on cryptocurrencies and regulations around digital assets have been in place in Europe, where the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) has also had a significant impact.

Additionally, the rise of dollar- and euro-pegged stablecoins as a payment method (stablecoin giant Circle recently announced that this use case will be a major focus of the company's new product networks) also supports travel compliance.

However, bringing crypto payments into line with the rest of the financial world in terms of anti-money laundering has not been easy, as geographical hotspots of compliance have emerged and a patchwork of networks and systems that do not always interoperate with each other, noted Notabene CEO Pelle Braendgaard. The issue of interoperability was identified as a key barrier among VASPs surveyed by Notabene.

“You need to create a layer of travel rules that functions as an open system, especially if you want to support things like stablecoin payment networks at scale,” Brändgaard said in an interview. “Almost out of necessity, companies have created these little closed loops, like cloud functionality for cryptocurrency and stablecoins. And you need an open loop element, which is, of course, cryptocurrency.”

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