Australia tightens oversight of crypto and remittance providers

Australia’s financial intelligence regulator removed, suspended, or refused to renew 45 remittance and virtual asset service provider registrations over the past year, citing a spectrum of issues from dormancy and insolvency to elevated money‑laundering and terrorism‑financing risks. The regulator said these actions removed affected businesses from its public registers and that entities with canceled registrations can no longer operate; in some cases individuals connected to those businesses were referred to enforcement partners. The stated grounds for action included inactive operations, insufficient capacity to begin or continue trading, incorrect registration details, failures to notify material changes, and significant ML/TF exposure. Among the most prominent enforcement moves was the cancellation of BA Digital Ventures Pty Ltd’s VASP registration — the company that traded as GetCoins — dated June 4, 2026. The regulator worked with the National Anti‑Scam Centre after receiving customer complaints, requested information about the business’s operations, and said the provider was allegedly exploited by organised cryptocurrency investment scams. The agency framed the cancellation as a disruption measure that helped break alleged scam activity, while stressing it did not allege the provider itself organized those schemes. Another notable enforcement step came on August 9, 2026, when the regulator suspended Cryptolink Pty Ltd’s registration for three months, which shut down 96 cryptocurrency ATMs nationwide; the suspension followed concerns about missing threshold transaction reports and an unanswered information request. Cryptolink had earlier completed an enforceable undertaking and paid an A$56,340 infringement notice, yet was found to have failed basic reporting duties thereafter. These removal and suspension actions sit within a broader supervisory push: the regulator reviewed more than 50 crypto providers in an earlier phase and took action against 13 firms, opened supervisory campaigns targeting local exchanges and OTC crypto‑to‑cash businesses, and made its VASP register publicly searchable in June. The regulator also opened an inquiry on September 1 into a major money‑transfer firm’s AML program, transaction monitoring and governance. Additional compliance deadlines include a requirement for qualifying digital asset businesses to apply for financial licences by September 30, after which relief expires and civil or criminal enforcement may follow for firms outside the relief conditions. The regulator said it will continue removing providers that fail to manage financial crime risks or meet reporting obligations.