Australia tightens crypto oversight with 45 removals

Australia’s financial intelligence regulator said on Sept. 7 that it canceled, suspended or refused to renew 45 crypto and remittance registrations during the past year. Summary AUSTRAC removed 45 remittance and virtual asset registrations through three types of regulatory action recently. GetCoins lost its registration after complaints and alleged exploitation by organized cryptocurrency investment scams emerged. Cryptolink’s registration was suspended for three months covering its network of 96 cryptocurrency ATMs nationwide. The regulator did not publicly identify all 45 businesses or separate crypto providers from remitters. Businesses with canceled registrations cannot operate and some associated individuals were referred to enforcement partners. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre said the AUSTRAC registration actions removed affected businesses from its official registers. The agency did not identify all 45 companies or disclose how many were virtual asset service providers rather than remittance businesses. According to its statement, AUSTRAC targeted businesses that were inactive, insolvent or unable to begin or continue operating. Other cases involved i...