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

Odaily Planet Daily 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 cryptocurrency and remittance business registrations, targeting service providers that are inactive, insolvent, or not operationally capable.

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

AUSTRAC noted that GetCoins, a brand under BA Digital Ventures, had its virtual asset service provider registration cancelled in June due to customer complaints. The agency stated that GetCoins was suspected of being exploited by organised cryptocurrency investment scam operations, and the action was taken in collaboration with the National Anti-Scam Centre to help disrupt related activities.

AUSTRAC did not disclose the full list of 45 businesses, nor did it provide a breakdown of the number 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)