Trust Infrastructures for Virtual Asset Service Providers

Virtual asset service providers currently face a number of challenges, both from the technological and the regulatory perspectives. One key issue is the need for VASPs to obtain, validate, retain and securely exchange customer information in the context of virtual asset transfers as part of compliance to the Travel Rule. Unlike traditional financial institutions, the VASP community currently still lacks the infrastructures that engender business-trust based on sound technical-trust. The current work discusses the need for a VASP information sharing network as one form of a trust infrastructure aimed at VASP-to-VASP secure interactions. The goal is to allow VASPs to authenticate each other, to ascertain the business legal status of other VASPs, and to support the secure and confidential sharing of customer account information as required by the Travel Rule. We discuss the need for a trusted identity infrastructure for VASPs, allowing customers and regulators to obtain assurance regarding the digital identity and Internet presence of a VASP. For customers of VASPs there is a need for seamless integration between the VASP information sharing network with the existing consumer identity management infrastructure, providing a user-friendly experience for transferring virtual assets to other users.