Australia has cancelled, suspended, or refused to renew 45 crypto and remittance registrations over the past year

Odaily News: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) has stated that over the past year, it has cancelled, suspended, or refused to renew 45 registrations for cryptocurrency and remittance businesses, targeting service providers that are inactive, insolvent, or not operationally capable.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that businesses whose registrations have been cancelled are not permitted to continue operating, and that some individuals involved have been referred to Australian and overseas law enforcement or regulatory cooperation agencies. Additional issues cited include failure to report material changes, incorrect registration information, and significant money laundering or terrorist financing risks.

AUSTRAC noted that the virtual asset service provider registration of GetCoins, a brand under BA Digital Ventures, was cancelled in June following customer complaints. The agency stated that GetCoins is suspected of being exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scam activities, and that this action, taken in collaboration with the National Anti-Scam Centre, helped disrupt related activity.

AUSTRAC did not disclose the full list of 45 businesses, nor did it provide a breakdown of crypto versus remittance service providers. The public VASP register shows that recent actions have also involved Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia; AUSTRAC has also launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended Cryptolink's cryptocurrency ATM network. (Cointelegraph)