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

Odaily News: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) stated that over the past year, it has canceled, suspended, or refused to renew 45 cryptocurrency and remittance business registrations, targeting service providers that are inactive, insolvent, or lack operational capacity.

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

AUSTRAC noted that the virtual asset service provider registration of BA Digital Ventures' brand GetCoins was canceled in June due to customer complaints. The agency stated that GetCoins is suspected of being exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scam activities. This action was carried out in collaboration with the National Anti-Scam Centre to help disrupt related activities.

AUSTRAC has not disclosed the full list of 45 businesses, nor has it published the breakdown of crypto and remittance service providers by category. 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)