AUSTRAC Removes 45 Crypto and Remittance Firms in High-Risk Payments Crackdown

Australia’s financial intelligence regulator has removed 45 remittance and virtual asset businesses from its registers as it intensifies scrutiny of payment services vulnerable to money laundering, terrorism financing, and organized scams.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, or AUSTRAC, said it canceled, suspended, or refused to renew the registrations of 45 remittance providers and virtual asset service providers during the past year.

Businesses whose registrations were canceled can no longer legally offer the relevant services in Australia.

AUSTRAC Targets High-Risk Payment Providers

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the enforcement activity reflected the elevated financial crime risks associated with moving funds quickly across borders.

“The rapid movement of money across borders can create some of the highest ML/TF risks,” Thomas said, referring to money laundering and terrorism financing.

The regulator targeted businesses that lacked the operational capacity to begin or continue trading, remained dormant for extended periods or had become insolvent.

Other firms had failed to hold the correct registration, notify AUSTRAC of material changes, or comply with regulatory requirements. AUSTRAC also removed businesses that it considered to pose significant money laundering or terrorism financing risks.

Thomas said the regulator had referred individuals connected to some of the affected companies to law enforcement agencies and regulatory partners in Australia and overseas. He added that international cooperation was essential because financial crime frequently crosses national borders.

GetCoins Registration Canceled Over Alleged Scam Activity

One of the cases involved BA Digital Ventures Pty Ltd, which traded as GetCoins. AUSTRAC worked with Australia’s National Anti-Scam Center after receiving customer complaints about the virtual asset service provider.

The regulator requested information about GetCoins’ operations to determine whether the company had the systems and capabilities necessary to identify and manage money-laundering risks.

According to AUSTRAC, organized cryptocurrency investment scams had allegedly exploited the platform. The regulator said canceling GetCoins’ registration, in coordination with the National Anti-Scam Center, helped disrupt the suspected scam activity.

AUSTRAC did not disclose how many customers were affected, the value of transactions connected to the alleged schemes, or whether the referrals had resulted in criminal charges.

“By working with NASC and canceling GetCoins’ registration, AUSTRAC helped to disrupt organized investment scam activity,” Thomas said.

Crypto and Remittance Sectors Face Greater Scrutiny

The removal of the 45 businesses forms part of a broader enforcement campaign targeting Australia’s payments, remittance, and virtual asset industries.

Recent measures include the opening of an investigation into Western Union and an order requiring Cryptolink to take its cryptocurrency ATM network offline. AUSTRAC has identified these sectors as carrying heightened exposure to money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud, and other serious crimes.

The tougher approach follows AUSTRAC’s latest annual risk update and signals that registration will not be treated as a one-time compliance exercise. Providers must continue to demonstrate that they can manage financial crime risks and meet their reporting obligations across their operations.

“We are proactively identifying and removing businesses that do not meet the expectation set by the registration regime,” Thomas said.

He warned that AUSTRAC would continue to exclude companies that pose serious financial crime risks.

“Our message to industry is clear: understand and manage your risks and meet your reporting obligations, or you may not be able to continue operating,” Thomas added.