Travel rule compliance

Travel Rule is a financial-crime regulation that requires financial institutions to exchange originator and beneficiary information on cross-counterparty fund transfers that exceed defined thresholds. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sets the rule in the United States, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) sets the equivalent rule in Singapore under Notice PSN02, and the European Union sets it under the Transfer of Funds Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113), which applies to payouts and payins booked through Circle SAS (CIRCLE_FR). Circle applies these rules to Stablecoin Payouts and the third-party transfers booked through the Circle Mint Core API. For CIRCLE_FR accounts, Travel Rule requirements also apply to Stablecoin Payins; see Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR). Circle LLC and CIRCLE_SG payins are not subject to additional Travel Rule data requirements.

Regional rules

The Circle entity that books the payout or payin determines which rule set applies. The location of the customer or recipient is not the trigger.

Circle entity	Trigger	Threshold	Notes
Circle LLC (United States)	All third-party payouts on Travel Rule blockchains at or exceeding threshold	$3,000 USD-equivalent	FinCEN. Originator identities required.
Circle Singapore (`CIRCLE_SG`)	Every third-party payout	None. Applies to all amounts.	MAS PSN02. Originator identities, beneficiary identity, ownership, Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), and payment reason code all required. See Ownership for the current self-hosted-wallet limitation.
Circle SAS (`CIRCLE_FR`)	Every third-party payout and payin	None. Applies to all amounts.	EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113). Originator identities, beneficiary identity, ownership, and Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) required for payouts. Payins require `purposeOfTransfer` and `beneficiaryLei`. See Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR) and Ownership for details.

The booking entity on your account, not the geography of either side of the transfer, decides which threshold and which fields apply.

Schemas

The following sections describe the data Circle collects to satisfy Travel Rule. Use the schema appropriate to your booking entity and the recipient type.

Originator identities

Applies to every Stablecoin Payout subject to Travel Rule: Circle LLC at the $3,000 threshold and CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR for all amounts. The originator identity travels in the source.identities[] array on POST /v1/payouts. It identifies the sender of the funds, which is your business and, where applicable, the customer that originated the transfer.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`type`	string	Yes	`individual` or `business`.
`name`	string	Yes	Full legal name.
`addresses[]`	array	Yes	One or more address objects.
`addresses[].line1`	string	Yes	Street address.
`addresses[].line2`	string	No	Additional address detail.
`addresses[].city`	string	Yes	City.
`addresses[].district`	string	Yes for United States and Canada	State or province as a 2-letter code.
`addresses[].postalCode`	string	Yes	Postal code.
`addresses[].country`	string	Yes	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.

The following example shows a single business originator identity:

{
  "source": {
    "type": "wallet",
    "id": "12345",
    "identities": [
      {
        "type": "business",
        "name": "Acme Payments, Inc.",
        "addresses": [
          {
            "line1": "1 Market Street",
            "line2": "Suite 400",
            "city": "San Francisco",
            "district": "CA",
            "postalCode": "94105",
            "country": "US"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Beneficiary identity (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Applies to Address Book recipients used by CIRCLE_SG-booked and CIRCLE_FR-booked payouts. The beneficiary identity travels in the identity object on POST /v1/addressBook/recipients. It identifies the recipient. The schema captures legal name and, for CIRCLE_FR recipients, an optional legal entity identifier. Addresses are not part of this object.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`type`	string	Yes	`individual` or `business`.
`firstName`	string	Yes when `type: individual`	Beneficiary first name.
`lastName`	string	Yes when `type: individual`	Beneficiary last name.
`businessName`	string	Yes when `type: business`	Beneficiary legal business name.
`lei`	string	No. `CIRCLE_FR` only.	Legal entity identifier (LEI): a 20-character alphanumeric code (ISO 17442) that identifies a legal entity. Optional regardless of beneficiary type. Circle validates the format. Omitted for other entities.

Individual beneficiary:

{
  "identity": {
    "type": "individual",
    "firstName": "Satoshi",
    "lastName": "Nakamoto"
  }
}

Business beneficiary:

{
  "identity": {
    "type": "business",
    "businessName": "Globex Holdings Pte. Ltd."
  }
}

Business beneficiary with a legal entity identifier (CIRCLE_FR):

{
  "identity": {
    "type": "business",
    "businessName": "Example Corp",
    "lei": "529900T8BM49AURSDO55"
  }
}

Circle captures the beneficiary identity at the recipient level so every payout reuses the same verified data. After creation, you cannot modify identity with PATCH. Attempts return error code 2036.

Ownership (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Applies to Address Book recipients used by CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR. The ownership data travels in the ownership object on POST /v1/addressBook/recipients and declares whether the recipient is your own wallet or a third party’s wallet, and whether that wallet is hosted by a VASP or self-hosted.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`type`	string	Yes	`first_party` or `third_party`.
`custody.type`	string	Yes	`hosted` or `self_hosted`.
`custody.vaspId`	string	Yes when `custody.type: hosted`. Omit otherwise.	The VASP that holds the recipient wallet. Obtain values from `GET /v1/addressBook/vasps`.

Third-party hosted-wallet recipient:

{
  "ownership": {
    "type": "third_party",
    "custody": {
      "type": "hosted",
      "vaspId": "f1c5e96a-2c0e-4f9c-bf63-9a8a2d3c1c12"
    }
  }
}

The API schema accepts custody.type: self_hosted for CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR, but the risk layer denies these recipients today. Build against hosted wallets until self-hosted support ships. After creation, you cannot modify ownership with PATCH. Attempts return error code 2037.

Virtual asset service provider lookup

GET /v1/addressBook/vasps returns the active set of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) available for your jurisdiction. The endpoint is available to CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR customers. Use the returned id as ownership.custody.vaspId when you register a hosted-wallet recipient.

curl -X GET https://api-sandbox.circle.com/v1/addressBook/vasps \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"

Sample response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "8f9a0c2e-1d3b-4a5f-9c7b-2e3d4f5a6b7c",
      "name": "Anchorage Digital"
    },
    {
      "id": "1a2b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d",
      "name": "Coinhako"
    },
    {
      "id": "2b3c4d5e-6f7a-8b9c-0d1e-2f3a4b5c6d7e",
      "name": "Coinbase"
    },
    {
      "id": "9b8a7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d",
      "name": "Paxos"
    },
    {
      "id": "3c4d5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f-3a4b5c6d7e8f",
      "name": "Circle"
    },
    {
      "id": "4d5e6f7a-8b9c-0d1e-2f3a-4b5c6d7e8f90",
      "name": "Circle Singapore"
    },
    {
      "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
      "name": "Off Network VASP"
    }
  ]
}

The list is dynamic. Query it at runtime rather than hardcoding IDs.

Payment reason codes

purposeOfTransfer on POST /v1/payouts carries a payment reason code that describes why the funds are moving. The field is required for CIRCLE_SG-booked and CIRCLE_FR-booked payouts and is not part of Travel Rule data collection for Circle LLC. Values align with the Cross-Border Payments Network (CPN) payment reason codes, with one addition (PMT000) that is unique to Stablecoin Payouts and is intended for cases that do not match another code. PMT006 is not valid for Stablecoin Payouts.

Reason code	Description
`PMT000`	Others
`PMT001`	Invoice payment
`PMT002`	Payment for services
`PMT003`	Payment for software
`PMT004`	Payment for imported goods
`PMT005`	Travel services
`PMT007`	Repayment of loans
`PMT008`	Payroll
`PMT009`	Payment of property rental
`PMT010`	Information service charges
`PMT011`	Advertising and public relations related expenses
`PMT012`	Royalty fees, trademark fees, patent fees, and copyright fees
`PMT013`	Fees for brokers, front end fee, commitment fee, guarantee fee, and custodian fee
`PMT014`	Fees for advisors, technical assistance, and academic knowledge including remuneration for specialists
`PMT015`	Representative office expenses
`PMT016`	Tax payment
`PMT017`	Transportation fees for goods
`PMT018`	Construction costs/expenses
`PMT019`	Insurance premium
`PMT020`	General goods trades (offline)
`PMT021`	Insurance claims payment
`PMT022`	Remittance payments to friends or family
`PMT023`	Education-related student expenses
`PMT024`	Medical treatment
`PMT025`	Donations
`PMT026`	Mutual fund investment
`PMT027`	Currency exchange
`PMT028`	Advance payments for goods
`PMT029`	Merchant settlement
`PMT030`	Repatriation fund settlement

Supported blockchains

Travel Rule currently applies to Stablecoin Payouts on the following blockchains:

Algorand (ALGO)
Aptos (APTOS)
Arbitrum (ARB)
Arc (ARC)
Avalanche (AVAX)
Base (BASE)
Celo (CELO)
Ethereum (ETH)
NEAR (NEAR)
Optimism (OP)
Polygon PoS (POLY)
XRP Ledger (XRP)
Solana (SOL)
Stellar (XLM)

Circle manages Travel Rule applicability per blockchain, and this set can evolve. For the per-product blockchain support matrix, see Supported Chains and Currencies.

Failure modes

A Travel Rule problem surfaces in one of two places: at submission time as a synchronous validation error, or after submission as an asynchronous risk decision.

Synchronous validation errors

Returned at POST time with an HTTP 4xx response. Fix the request and retry with a fresh idempotencyKey. Address Book validation spans the 2024-2037 range; 2036 and 2037 are called out separately because they cover PATCH attempts on fields that are immutable after creation.

Error code	Trigger
`5020`	Missing or invalid `purposeOfTransfer` on a `CIRCLE_SG`-booked payout.
`2024`-`2035`	Address Book recipient validation: missing `identity`, missing `ownership`, missing or invalid `custody.vaspId`, and related shape errors.
`2036`	Attempt to `PATCH` `identity` on an existing Address Book recipient.
`2037`	Attempt to `PATCH` `ownership` on an existing Address Book recipient.

Asynchronous risk evaluation

The payout accepts at submission with HTTP 201, then the resource transitions to failed. The payload carries the risk decision:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "b36cbf12-6ed1-47ed-9eb9-5874f8991ca8",
    "status": "failed",
    "errorCode": "transaction_denied",
    "riskEvaluation": {
      "decision": "denied",
      "reason": "3220"
    }
  }
}

reason: 3220 indicates a Travel Rule violation. Review your originator identities, beneficiary identity (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR), vaspId, and purposeOfTransfer against this reference, then re-submit with a new idempotencyKey.

Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR)

The EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) imposes Travel Rule requirements on Stablecoin Payins booked through Circle SAS (CIRCLE_FR) only.

Payment intent fields

CIRCLE_FR accounts must supply purposeOfTransfer and beneficiaryLei when creating a payment intent with POST /v1/paymentIntents.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`purposeOfTransfer`	string	Yes	Payment reason code that describes why the funds are moving.
`beneficiaryLei`	string	Yes	Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): a 20-character alphanumeric code (ISO 17442) identifying the receiving legal entity. Circle validates the format.

Example payment intent body including beneficiaryLei:

{
  "idempotencyKey": "17607606-e383-4874-87c3-7e46a5dc03dd",
  "currency": "USD",
  "settlementCurrency": "USD",
  "purposeOfTransfer": "PMT001",
  "merchantWalletId": "1000999922",
  "beneficiaryLei": "529900T8BM49AURSDO55",
  "paymentMethods": [
    {
      "type": "blockchain",
      "chain": "BASE"
    }
  ]
}

Refund requirements

For CIRCLE_FR refunds, paymentId is required on POST /v1/paymentIntents/{id}/refund. Supply the ID of the settled payment from paymentIds[] on the intent so Circle can associate the refund with the original payin and carry forward its Travel Rule data. Refunds to a wallet address at a different VASP than the original payin aren’t supported. For the full refund mode details, see Refund a stablecoin payin. For CIRCLE_SG refund requirements, see Refund a stablecoin payin.

Mint

Match

StableFX

Digital Asset Accounts

End User Onboarding

Travel rule compliance

Regional rules

Schemas

Originator identities

Beneficiary identity (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Ownership (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Virtual asset service provider lookup

Payment reason codes

Supported blockchains

Failure modes

Synchronous validation errors

Asynchronous risk evaluation

Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR)

Payment intent fields

Refund requirements

​Regional rules

​Schemas

​Originator identities

​Beneficiary identity (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

​Ownership (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

​Virtual asset service provider lookup

​Payment reason codes

​Supported blockchains

​Failure modes

​Synchronous validation errors

​Asynchronous risk evaluation

​Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR)

​Payment intent fields

​Refund requirements

Regional rules

Schemas

Originator identities

Beneficiary identity (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Ownership (CIRCLE_SG and CIRCLE_FR)

Virtual asset service provider lookup

Payment reason codes

Supported blockchains

Failure modes

Synchronous validation errors

Asynchronous risk evaluation

Stablecoin Payins (CIRCLE_FR)

Payment intent fields

Refund requirements