PayPal-backed fintech firm Mesh has partnered with wallet connectivity provider Reown to introduce Bitcoin wallet verification in adherence to the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) Travel Rule guidelines.
Mesh, a U.S.-based fintech, aims to facilitate smoother wallet ownership verification in the Bitcoin ecosystem through this collaboration with Reown, formerly WalletConnect. The new feature addresses the increasing regulatory demand for secure data exchange, mainly as the Travel Rule guidelines come into effect on Dec. 30.
Mesh and Reown Join Forces to Tackle the Travel Rule
The Travel Rule, which the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requires crypto businesses to follow, is to collect and share certain information about their customers on certain types of transactions exceeding a specified amount, usually $1,000. This measure is meant to curtail money laundering and other illegal digital asset activities. At the core of their partnership to ease crypto businesses into compliance and meet regulatory needs, Mesh and Reown want to simplify compliance for crypto businesses.
“While crypto businesses face a significant challenge in complying with the Travel Rule, accurate data exchange between other providers is essential for this process to be secure,” Mesh said in a press release. Using Mesh’s fintech capabilities and Reown’s wallet connectivity solutions, the partnership takes compliance out of the loop and creates a secure and seamless flow across platforms.
Jess Houlgrave, Reown CEO, said regulatory compliance is increasingly important for the sector, and forward-thinking companies ‘will be leading the way.’ Speaking at the session, Bam Azizi, co-founder and CEO of Mesh, noted that the industry increasingly demands verification solutions that adhere to EBA standards, and interoperability between wallets will be key to the industry’s progress.
In 2020, Bam Azizi and Adam Israel launched Mesh, which, like most companies, has since raised $22 million in a Series A funding round, along with Money Forward, Galaxy, and Samsung Next. Mesh received follower funding from PayPal Ventures via PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, adding fuel to Mesh’s reserves to continue developing compliance solutions.
Regulations like the Travel Rule are reshaping the crypto industry, and partnerships like Mesh and Reown’s are helping to make compliance easier, hopefully strengthening trust and security in the digital asset space.