Australia Removes 45 Crypto and Payments Firms From Registers
AUSTRAC took action with cancellations, suspensions, and refused renewals at inactive or high-risk VASPs. GetCoins also came under scrutiny after complaints about a possible crypto investment scam.
Key Takeaways
- Australia removed 45 crypto and payments company registrations from the registers through cancellations, suspensions, and refused renewals.
- AUSTRAC stepped in against inactive, insolvent, or non-reporting companies and, in some cases, referred the people involved to police.
- GetCoins came under extra pressure after customer complaints and an investigation into possible money laundering risks and an organized crypto investment scam.
Australia has removed 45 crypto and payments company registrations from the registers. The actions, including cancellations, suspensions, and refused renewals, were spread over the past year. The financial crime regulator AUSTRAC also referred the people behind those companies to police in some cases.
Why AUSTRAC Stepped In
AUSTRAC said several companies were inactive or dormant, while others turned out to be insolvent. Some had not provided a designated service for a long time, or simply did not have the operational capacity to start or continue trading.
There were also registrations that were incorrect, or companies that did not inform AUSTRAC in time about material changes in their activities. The rest, according to the regulator, posed a significant risk of money laundering or terrorism financing.
CEO Brendan Thomas said that fast cross-border money movement can lead to some of the highest ML/TF risks. According to him, AUSTRAC therefore works closely with domestic and international partners to protect the financial system, not just in Australia but worldwide.
GetCoins Under Extra Pressure
AUSTRAC also named BA Digital Ventures Pty Ltd, which operated under the name GetCoins. The regulator worked with the National Anti-Scam Centre after customer complaints came in. AUSTRAC then requested information about the company’s operations to assess whether GetCoins could properly manage its exposure to money laundering risks.
According to AUSTRAC, an organized crypto investment scam may have used the VASP. That fits into a broader tightening of oversight of payments and crypto companies in Australia. The regulator also opened an investigation into Western Union on September 1 and suspended Cryptolink in August, taking 96 crypto ATMs offline.
What This Means for the Sector
For European crypto readers, this shows how closely regulators are now looking at registration, reporting obligations, and operational control. Companies that move money quickly across borders are getting extra attention in particular. The GetCoins case also highlights that weak compliance can not only cost a registration, but can also be tied to fraud cases and referrals to law enforcement.
The bar is getting higher in Australia too: ASIC previously warned that crypto companies need to get their licenses in order or adjust their operations. That leaves even less room for sloppy registration and weak controls.
