Major Breakthroughs Achieved in Standardizing Cross-Border Crypto Transfers Worldwide

The boring stuff in crypto is quietly becoming the most important stuff. TRUST, the compliance network built to help crypto companies share customer data under global anti-money-laundering rules, just hit four milestones that collectively signal how far the industry has come from its “move fast and break things” era.

The highlights: a new product called TRUSThub, global expansion beyond US borders, the addition of BNY Mellon to the network, and a partnership with analytics firm 21 Analytics.

What TRUST actually does, and why it exists

Here’s the thing. When you wire money through a traditional bank, your bank and the receiving bank exchange identifying information about the sender and recipient. This requirement, known as the “Travel Rule,” was originally created by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for traditional finance. Regulators have spent years pushing to apply the same standard to crypto.

In English: every time you send Bitcoin or any other digital asset from one exchange to another, both platforms need a secure way to share your name and other identifying details. Without a standardized system, that process is a mess of one-off integrations and manual workarounds.

TRUST, which stands for Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology, launched in February 2022 to solve exactly this problem. It was built by a coalition of US-based Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), with Coinbase and Paxos among the founding members. The idea was simple: create a decentralized, privacy-preserving protocol that lets crypto platforms exchange required compliance data without exposing sensitive customer information to the entire network.

Four milestones, unpacked

TRUSThub goes live. TRUSThub is a tool that allows TRUST members to share compliance data with VASPs that are not part of the TRUST network. TRUSThub was made available to members by the end of 2024, effectively turning TRUST from a members-only club into a protocol that can communicate with the broader ecosystem.

Global expansion. When TRUST launched, it was a largely US-centric effort. The network has since expanded to include over 195 participating VASPs worldwide.

BNY Mellon joins the network. BNY Mellon, one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in the world, is now a participant in the TRUST network. BNY Mellon joins other institutional heavyweights like Fidelity that are already part of the network.

Partnership with 21 Analytics. The fourth milestone is a partnership with 21 Analytics, a firm that provides blockchain analytics and compliance tools. This integration enhances the network’s ability to assess transaction risk and meet regulatory expectations around transaction monitoring.