Australia’s financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC said it canceled, suspended or declined to renew 45 registrations tied to crypto and remittance businesses over the past year, describing the moves as part of a broader effort to address higher-risk payment activity.

The regulator said the actions covered a range of problems, including firms that were inactive, insolvent or unable to operate, as well as failures to report significant changes, incorrect registrations and cases that raised serious money laundering or terrorism financing concerns.

Registrations canceled, suspended or not renewed

AUSTRAC said the enforcement measures were aimed at businesses that no longer met requirements to stay on the public register or presented other compliance risks. According to the agency, the affected registrations spanned both crypto-related services and remittance providers.

Chief executive Brendan Thomas said businesses whose registrations were canceled are no longer allowed to operate. He also said some people connected to the affected firms had been referred to law enforcement or other regulatory partners.

GetCoins singled out in the regulator’s update

Among the cases highlighted by AUSTRAC was GetCoins, which trades as BA Digital Ventures. The agency said it canceled the company’s virtual asset registration after receiving customer complaints.

AUSTRAC said GetCoins had allegedly been exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scams and that canceling the registration was intended to disrupt that activity. The regulator did not present the case as a final finding against all parties involved, but framed the action as part of its risk-based response.

Public register shows several recent actions

The regulator said recent entries on its public registers include actions involving GetCoins, Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange and Coinsec Australia. Those listings provide a snapshot of how the broader cleanup has been applied across named businesses in the sector.

AUSTRAC also said it has opened an investigation into Western Union. Separately, it said Cryptolink’s crypto ATM network has been suspended.

What the crackdown signals next

The update indicates AUSTRAC is focusing not only on whether a business is active and properly registered, but also on whether it is reporting material changes and managing exposure to financial crime risks. The agency’s comments suggest that registration status can be withdrawn where those standards are not met.

For now, the clearest confirmed next steps are the continued publication of enforcement actions on AUSTRAC’s registers, the ongoing investigation involving Western Union and the existing suspension of Cryptolink’s crypto ATM network.

Source: cointelegraph.com