What Is the Travel Rule Protocol (TRP)?

The Travel Rule Protocol, TRP, is an open-source standard for exchanging crypto-asset transfer-related data between VASPs as required by the FATF Travel Rule (Recommendation 16). TRP is the leading decentralised protocol, attracting many VASPs and technical solution providers, such as 21 Analytics, as contributors, supporters, and users.

TRP builds on and leverages other open industry standards from the crypto industry, such as IVMS and LNURL and standard IT building blocks like REST and HTTPS. It is an entirely royalty-free specification without any hidden catches or depending on any centralised third-party services.

In a nutshell, TRP is free, anyone can access its code and install it, and it solves the Travel Rule’s requirements.

In late 2021, the TRP Working Group merged with the OpenVASP Association. The latest version of TRP combines the best parts of the former OpenVASP protocol and TRP version 2.

TRP is the official protocol of the OpenVASP Association for enabling a truly permissionless, peer-to-peer implementation of the Travel Rule as defined in the principles of the Association.

One of the main differences between TRP and other Travel Rule solutions and protocols is its decentralisation. Since no company owns the efforts, decisions, budget or outcomes, the protocol was built to survive the ever-changing crypto market and allow true participation from whoever wants to join.

In fact, due to its decentralised nature, TRP is wholly tailored to the industry's needs. Travel Rule solution developers, VASPs, compliance officials, etc., have made all decisions regarding its development resulting in every feature that TRP boasts being developed to match a Travel Rule demand.

Access the TRP specification on the OpenVASP Association's public GitLab organisation or join the Telegram group to find out how you can contribute to TRP’s development.

By using TRP's Advanced Workflow, VASPs can gain several benefits, including the ability to accept or decline transactions. This feature allows VASPs to enhance their security measures by immediately rejecting transactions from sanctioned countries or individuals.

Additionally, the payment address is only visible after the transaction has been accepted, eliminating the possibility of unwanted transactions, as per the FATF’s Travel Rule and EU’sTransfer of Funds Regulation (TFR). Furthermore, VASPs can examine transaction details before proceeding, saving time and resources.

VASP auto-discovery, along with the Travel Address, solve the VASP discovery problem. By sending or receiving a Travel Address to or from an unknown counterparty a receiving VASP immediately knows who their counterparty is without having to ask their customer or rely on any VASP networks.

The FATF's Travel Rule requires VASPs to send Travel Rule information if the beneficiary has a custodial account with another VASP.

However, a common problem encountered by VASPs is not knowing to whom the address belongs. Fortunately, the Travel Address provides VASPs with essential information, controls, and enhancements, including the VASP and address to which the coins should be sent, enhanced privacy for the user, and the ability to conduct sanction checks before revealing the digital asset address.

It functions similarly to a traditional banking IBAN and helps VASPs comply with the Travel Rule.

21 Analytics developed a free and user-friendly TRP Travel Address Encoder tool. It is a free tool for VASP software engineering teams and compliance officers who want to test the Travel Address functionality.

With this tool, users can see exactly what information a Travel Address comprises: the VASP that controls the receiving address and the VASP’s URL to receive Travel Rule data.

TRP aligns with all Travel Rule implementations, as the receiving VASP must still conduct due diligence before the transaction proceeds—meaning no blockchain activity occurs beforehand. This ensures that Travel Rule data is shared exclusively with trusted counterparties.

With TRP, VASPs have complete control, allowing users to build on the protocol themselves or use a compatible solution from a provider.

TRP is designed to be easily implemented while meeting the needs of the Travel Rule. VASPs can use various extensions to modify or add to the protocol if they signal support for a particular extension in their communication.

Moreover, unlike other protocols, there is no vendor lock-in. VASPs can terminate their contracts and seek new options or build their own solutions without incurring costly and time-consuming efforts.

Individuals can request to join the monthly TRP call and share their knowledge and ideas on improving the existing protocol and discussing Travel Rule-related topics - this can be done by joining the OpenVASP Telegram group.

Moreover, the standard and its extensions are further developed through GitLab merge requests and issues. To participate, access the TRP specification here.

A uniform language (data structure) is required for VASPs to exchange the mandatory information among themselves. Consequently, the interVASP Messaging Standard (IVMS 101) was developed to standardise the format in which Travel Rule data is recorded.

After the development of IVMS 101, 21 Analytics took the initiative to further aid the ecosystem by developing the IVMS Validator. The tool enables developers to verify the compatibility of entered data with the IVMS 101 data model standard, as used by TRP.

Conducting product integration testing is crucial in achieving interoperability and building better solutions for complying with the Travel Rule.
Travel Rule data tests often require a LEI Code, which is essential for transparency in the international finance arena. Financial institutions need to know the identity of the parties they deal with. However, it is virtually impossible for humans to generate valid LEI codes due to checksum.

To address this issue, 21 Analytics has developed a generic LEI Code generator to create valid LEI codes for testing purposes.