Security
Photo: Adobe Stock
April 1, 2025
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre warned cryptocurrency ATM operators of a rise in money laundering and fraudulent transactions. The regulator in particular believes that some operators may not have enough anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism tools, according to a press release.
“The taskforce has been busy engaging with businesses to understand the risks in their sector and assess their compliance with the law,” Brendan Thomas, CEO of AUSTRAC, said in the release. “It’s identified worrying trends and indicators of suspicious activity, including transactions that may be linked to scams or fraud.”
Currently, Australia has around 1,600 crypto ATMs in the country.
“We want to ensure crypto ATM providers have robust practices to minimize the risk that their machines can be used to launder dirty money or to scam and defraud innocent people,” Thomas said in the release. “We will continue to work with industry to raise standards, but we will also take action against operators who don’t comply.”
