How to verify destination wallet ownership for Travel Rule compliance

This guide shows you how to verify that a user controls their self-custodial destination wallet before allowing a withdrawal from your exchange, using Reown AppKit.

The Travel Rule is a FATF  requirement for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), established in 2019 and updated in 2021. For withdrawals to self-custodial wallets, it requires you to verify the user controls the destination address before the transfer proceeds.

Step 1: Implement SIWX with Reown AppKit

Follow the Reown AppKit Travel Rule guide  to implement SIWX. That flow has two steps: the user connects their wallet, then signs a message to prove they control the destination address.

Step 2: Confirm the Ledger WalletConnect path

When the user uses a Ledger signer through WalletConnect:

1. The user is redirected to Ledger Wallet to sign the message.
2. Once signing is complete, they are returned to the exchange via WalletConnect.

Step 3: Check the integration

After you finish the AppKit Travel Rule guide, confirm that:

• Withdrawals above the applicable threshold require a successful SIWX signature before the transfer is allowed
• Transfers are blocked if the user rejects the wallet connection or the sign-message prompt
• Your implementation stores a compliance record (wallet address, signature, verification timestamp, transaction hash) for each verified withdrawal

Your exchange can now require destination-wallet proof before a self-custodial withdrawal. For FATF background, see the FATF virtual assets page . For the SIWX recipe, see the Reown AppKit Travel Rule guide .