Australian financial regulators will crack down on inactive cryptocurrency exchanges

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Australia's anti-money laundering agency AUSTRAC has requested registered but non-operational cryptocurrency exchanges to voluntarily cancel their registrations, or they will be forcibly deregistered. The agency stated on April 29 that among the current 427 registered exchanges, some that have not conducted business for a long time may be acquired by criminals for fraud. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas emphasized that registered businesses must timely update their operational status, or they will face "use it or lose it" measures.

AUSTRAC plans to publish a list of registered exchanges to help the public identify legitimate platforms. Since 2019, 10 institutions have had their qualifications revoked, including the local subsidiary of FTX, which will be processed in June 2024. In February of this year, the agency also took compliance review measures against 13 remittance service providers and exchanges. Currently, Australia has not yet introduced specific cryptocurrency regulations, and the government intends to advance the inclusion of exchanges into the existing financial services regulatory framework before the May 3 elections.