U.S. Treasury Withdraws Crypto Wallet and Mixer Plans
FinCEN is dropping proposals for self-hosted wallets and crypto mixers. The move fits into the broader U.S. debate over privacy, anti-money-laundering rules, and blockchain transactions.
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. Treasury withdrew a proposal that would have made banks and exchanges monitor personal crypto wallets more closely.
- FinCEN also dropped a separate proposal that could have introduced extra reporting and registration rules for crypto mixers.
- The withdrawals fit into a broader policy shift around privacy on the blockchain, while existing anti-money-laundering rules remain in force.
The U.S. Treasury has withdrawn a plan that could have required banks and crypto exchanges to track personal crypto wallets more closely. Regulator FinCEN also dropped a separate proposal focused on crypto mixers. For users of self-hosted wallets, that marks a clear shift in U.S. policy around privacy on the blockchain. That policy change fits into a broader debate over how much oversight banks and regulators should be able to exercise over onchain transactions, something the SEC also previously looked at in the rules for crypto custody.
What FinCEN Is Withdrawing
FinCEN, Treasury's anti-money-laundering division, says it is not taking any further action on the 2020 proposal. That plan would have required financial institutions to verify customer information for transfers of more than $3,000 (€2,680) to or from a wallet someone controls themselves. For amounts above $10,000 (€8,930), or multiple transactions combined within 24 hours, a report would also have had to be sent to FinCEN.
Those rules never took effect. In its explanation, FinCEN says the withdrawal should help make rules for digital assets better suited to the market. The agency points to a White House crypto report from July 2025. A passage from the FinCEN report also says the Trump administration supports the right of legitimate users to conduct private transactions on a public blockchain.
Mixer Plan Also Disappears
On the same day, FinCEN also withdrew a 2023 proposal on crypto mixing. These services combine coins from multiple users to make it harder to trace where the money came from. The plan could have imposed extra reporting and registration rules on transactions with a foreign link.
That proposal was still listed in Treasury's regulatory agenda as a measure that could only become final in December 2027. FinCEN said comments from the market warned that the definition of mixing could also affect legitimate activity. At the same time, the agency stressed that criminals continue to use mixers and that new steps could still follow later.
Why This Matters for Europe
For European crypto watchers, this shows how quickly the tone around privacy and compliance can shift in the U.S. The move is also relevant because rules around self-hosted wallets and mixers often shape how exchanges, banks, and regulators look at blockchain transactions. At the same time, existing obligations, such as suspicious transaction reports and sanctions screening, still apply.
