AUSTRAC cancels 45 crypto and remittance registrations

TLDR

Australias AML regulator AUSTRAC has removed 45 registrations for crypto and remittance providers over the past year as part of a broader crackdown on high risk payment firms.

1. AUSTRAC canceled, suspended or refused to renew 45 registrations across crypto and remittance businesses that were inactive, insolvent, misregistered or posed money laundering and terrorism financing risks.
2. Affected entities, including crypto provider GetCoins and ATM operator Cryptolink, can no longer legally operate in Australia, while other exchanges and remitters face rising compliance and licensing pressure.
3. Crypto users and businesses should expect tighter checks, more KYC and potential service changes in Australia, and should verify that any provider they use is still on AUSTRACs official register.

Deep Dive

1. What AUSTRAC Actually Did

AUSTRAC reported that over the past year it canceled, suspended or declined to renew 45 registrations for crypto and remittance providers, removing them from its official registers for designated services. Multiple reports confirm the figure and describe it as a combined total across both sectors, not 45 crypto exchanges alone. The regulator cited reasons including dormant or inactive businesses, insolvency, lack of operational capacity, wrong or outdated registrations, failure to report material business changes and heightened money laundering or terrorism financing risk Australia removed 45 crypto and remittance registrations and Australia has kicked 45 firms off its registers.

AUSTRAC emphasized that loss of registration means those businesses can no longer legally operate under its regime, and in some cases referred associated individuals to domestic and overseas law enforcement partners CMCs AUSTRAC enforcement summary.

2. Who Was Hit And How It Affects Users

Among the named cases, BA Digital Ventures trading as GetCoins lost its virtual asset registration in June after customer complaints and alleged exploitation by organized crypto investment scams, with AUSTRAC working alongside the National Anti Scam Centre crypto provider GetCoins lost its registration. AUSTRAC also suspended Cryptolinks network of 96 crypto ATMs for three months and opened a separate investigation into Western Union, underlining that remittance giants as well as smaller crypto firms are in scope AUSTRAC actions against GetCoins and Cryptolink.

AUSTRACs public VASP register shows other affected names such as Self Custody, Jam Xchange and Coinsec Australia, but not all 45 entities have been disclosed regulatory actions over the past year. Customers of any affected firm could see services halted or restructured if the provider cannot meet registration and licensing requirements.

3. The Bigger Regulatory Direction In Australia

The registration removals sit within a wider tightening of Australian crypto oversight. AUSTRAC has launched supervisory campaigns targeting local exchanges and OTC crypto to assess governance and money laundering risk management, and Australias travel rule now applies to virtual asset transfers AUSTRAC oversight expansion and supervisory campaigns.

In parallel, ASIC has set a September 30 2026 deadline for digital asset businesses relying on temporary relief to obtain or vary an Australian Financial Services licence, with potential penalties up to 10 percent of annual turnover for firms that fail to comply ASICs September 30 licence deadline. Together, this points to a future where Australian facing crypto platforms must operate under both AUSTRAC registration and stricter financial services licensing, with less tolerance for informal or lightly governed models.

Conclusion

AUSTRACs removal of 45 crypto and remittance registrations is less about a single shock event and more about a sustained push to clean up high risk payment channels. For crypto users in Australia, the immediate step is to verify that any platform they use is properly registered and to expect tighter identity checks and monitoring. For projects and exchanges, the signal is clear: without robust AML controls, operational capacity and eventually full licensing, staying on the right side of Australian regulators will be increasingly difficult.