TRISA and TRP achieve interoperability between two open-source Travel Rule protocols enabling global digital asset exchanges to securely share AML data
TRISA-TRP Bridge now enables centralized exchanges to meet strict new FATF anti-money laundering compliance requirement while protecting sensitive KYC data in-flight and at-rest
November 8, 2023, Washington, DC - In a significant milestone, Travel Rule Information Sharing Alliance (TRISA) and the OpenVASP Association have joined forces to deliver seamless interoperability enabling hundreds of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with core AML regulations. This development, engineered by Rotational Labs and 21 Analytics, will empower VASPs adopting TRISA to securely exchange Travel Rule data with their TRP counterparts, enabling compliance with FATF Recommendation 16 without interrupting business operations.
The Travel Rule presents a major challenge for crypto companies, requiring them to collect, store, and exchange KYC data on both sender and the receivers of crypto transactions they facilitate. Travel Rule protocols serve as the common “language” VASPs use to transmit this confidential information to their counterparts. Responding to the Financial Action Task Force call for interoperability to support global travel rule compliance, TRISA, and the OpenVASP Association worked to build the TRISA-TRP bridge, enabling crypto companies to exchange Travel Rule data with a broad network of more than one hundred counterparties worldwide.
The TRISA and TRP integration reduces technical and financial burdens of AML compliance requirements using open protocols, open-source software, public key infrastructure, and a global VASP directory service. Now, privacy-conscious VASPs can take advantage of best security practices when handling and transmitting highly confidential Travel Rule data. The open, decentralized architecture of TRISA and TRP also facilitates greater adoption, as all VASPs can comply with little or no cost.
Dave Jevans, Executive VP at Mastercard and Co-Chairman of TRISA, comments:
“Facilitating open, decentralized, and secure architectures have always been priorities for TRISA, and achieving interoperability with TRP and extending TRISA security to the OpenVASP community was a key objective for 2023. We are thrilled that the bridge is complete, paving the path for more private information sharing.”
Travel rule interoperability has become a global imperative, as the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (“TFR”) deploys a uniform legal framework for crypto-assets service providers (CASP) and crypto-asset wallets across Europe in 2025. Korea and the UK began enforcing Travel Rule compliance in 2023, causing many exchanges to scramble to meet these new compliance obligations. TRISA’s Secure Envelopes enable VASPs to comply with their travel rule obligations l while deploying fine-grained data protection and destruction to meet the EU GDPR compliance obligations,” commented John Jefferies, Co-Chairman of TRISA.
Andrew Davidson, OpenVASP’s Board Member, adds:
“TRP’s decentralized protocol allows VASPs to communicate Travel Rule data. Now TRP-compatible counterparties can easily exchange Travel Rule compliant data TRISA counterparties furthering global compliance and improving their security posture.”
T. S. Felstead, TRISA-TRP bridge working group coordinator, highlights:
"Global regulators are codifying the FATF’s Travel Rule guidance. Like it or not, the crypto travel rule requires certain virtual asset businesses to exchange sensitive customer information; TRISA and TRP together provide a powerful vendor-neutral solution to securely comply with the travel rule, based on open standards and security best practices."
The bridge was developed by Rotational Labs and 21 Analytics. The open-source protocols and the bridge are available for free on the TRISA Githhub and on TRP’s Gitlab. VASPs can also leverage the bridge out-of-the-box with two commercial solutions: Mastercard CipherTrace Traveler service and 21 Analytics’ 21 Travel Rule.
About TRISA
Travel Rule Information Sharing Alliance (TRISA) is an open-source framework to support VASPs in sharing sender and receiver information to comply with Travel Rule requirements without compromising privacy. By applying a proven Certificate Authority (CA) model, TRISA reliably identifies and verifies VASPs to enable interoperability and ensure Personally Identifiable Information (PII) stays private and not sent to the wrong entity. The peer-to-peer design eliminates a single point of failure, provides resilience against attacks, and scales to accommodate extreme volumes. VASPs and financial institutions can immediately begin using TRISA to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements, as well as Travel Rule guidelines in other jurisdictions.
VASPs can join TRISA at vaspdirectory.net.
Learn more at trisa.io.
About OpenVASP
OpenVASP is a non-profit members association that develops open- and permissionless standards and tools for VASPs. The association's core standard is TRP, the Travel Rule Protocol, a fully decentralized solution for the FATF Travel Rule. OpenVASP was launched in November 2019. The association was established by founding members Bitcoin Suisse, Lykke, Seba Bank, Sygnum, Avaloq, and MME, with the support of the Crypto Valley Association, IDAXA, and ACCESS Singapore.
Learn more at openvasp.org.