The Travel Rule Protocol (TRP) Travel Address Encoder
The Travel Rule Protocol (TRP) Travel Address Encoder and Decoder is a free tool for virtual asset service provider (VASP) software engineering teams and compliance officers who want to test the Travel Address functionality.
How Does the TRP Travel Address Encoder Work?
21 Analytics developed a generic TRP Travel Address Encoder. This tool is free for anyone to use and is incredibly straightforward to navigate. The tool can be used to encode Travel Rule inquiries and decode Travel Addresses.
Users can use our given example to see the encoding of an address or their own. To see the operation in reverse, users can paste the encoded Travel Address into the box and click decode to view the original Travel Rule inquiry.
TRP Travel Address Encoder: Encoding and Decoding an Inquiry
With this tool, users can see exactly what information a Travel Address comprises: the beneficiary VASP name and a user-specific identifier.
Like an IBAN, zero personal information is presented with the Travel Address. Therefore if it were to fall into the wrong hands, no virtual assets could be withdrawn. Travel Addresses only serve to convey Travel Rule information before the transfer process.
Read: Is There a Difference Between an IBAN and a Travel Address?
Additionally, the Travel Address has no functionality unless TRP-compliant software, like 21 Travel Rule, is used.
What Is a Travel Address?
Where implemented, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Travel Rule requires VASPs to determine where they send virtual assets when transacting. Are the assets being sent to another VASP or a self-hosted wallet?
In turn, users must provide additional clarification to assist VASPs in this endeavour, resulting in a less streamlined user experience. When developing the TRP, we tackled this problem by introducing the Travel Address, an identifier unique to TRP.
The Travel Address is designed to simplify this process and make it easier for VASPs to comply with the Travel Rule while protecting the privacy and security of their customers' data.
The Travel Address is a string of characters, just like a crypto address, for example: ta6MNBj2u4art71gN99C6xniYrNfDUF26QgZHdXwd6zzYsvk1S6M5A15K2REHRULnZHnJs88
In Travel Rule transfers, the Travel Address replaces the usual wallet address since it contains the following:
The VASP that controls the receiving address,
The VASP’s URL to receive Travel Rule data.
It also offers enhanced privacy for the user, the immediate identification of wallets hosted by VASPs, the opportunity to do sanction checks - for the beneficiary - before sending, and the ability to reject a transfer before it happens, avoiding cumbersome coin quarantining. Lastly, because the Travel Address only provides the beneficiary VASP’s name and no personal information, it is one of the safest identifiers currently available.
Find out how you can implement TRP today.
