AUSTRAC in Australia revoked the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and remittance institutions within a year

Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC has canceled, suspended, or refused to renew the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and remittance service providers in the past year to strengthen the scrutiny of high-risk payment businesses. The involved institutions faced issues such as inactivity, insolvency, or lack of operational capability, as well as failure to report significant changes, incorrect registration information, and significant money laundering or terrorism financing risks. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that businesses whose registrations have been canceled are not allowed to continue operations, and some related individuals have been referred to domestic and international law enforcement or regulatory agencies. AUSTRAC specifically mentioned BA Digital Ventures operating under the name GetCoins, whose virtual asset registration was canceled in June due to customer complaints, allegedly because the platform was exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scams, with related actions conducted in cooperation with the national anti-fraud center. The public VASP registration list also included recent disposals of institutions such as Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia. Additionally, AUSTRAC has launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended the cryptocurrency ATM network of Cryptolink.