Australia's AUSTRAC Revokes Registrations of 45 Crypto and Remittance Firms Within One Year

ChainCatcher report: Over the past year, Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, has canceled, suspended, or declined to renew the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and remittance service providers to strengthen oversight of high-risk payment businesses. The affected entities exhibited issues such as inactivity, insolvency, or lack of operational capacity, as well as failure to report material changes, incorrect registration details, and significant risks of money laundering or terrorist financing. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that companies whose registrations were canceled are prohibited from continuing operations, and certain individuals involved have been referred to domestic and international law enforcement or regulatory authorities. AUSTRAC specifically highlighted BA Digital Ventures, operating as GetCoins, whose virtual asset registration was revoked in June following customer complaints; the platform is alleged to have been exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scams, with actions taken in collaboration with the National Anti-Scam Centre. The public VASP register also lists recent actions against institutions including Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia. Additionally, AUSTRAC has launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended Cryptolink’s cryptocurrency ATM network.