Australia’s financial-crime regulator has suspended the registration of the country’s largest Bitcoin and crypto ATM operator, adding pressure to a sector now under much closer watch.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, or AUSTRAC, said Monday that it suspended Cryptolink Pty Ltd’s registration as a Virtual Asset Service Provider for three months, effective August 9, after the company failed to keep up with its anti-money-laundering paperwork.
Basic reporting failures triggered the suspension
A Virtual Asset Service Provider is a business that moves digital assets for customers. Under Australia’s anti-money-laundering rules, those firms must report certain activity to the government. One of the core duties is filing threshold transaction reports for cash transactions above a set limit.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said Cryptolink “met the conditions stipulated in its enforceable undertaking, [but] subsequently failed to meet basic reporting obligations, particularly for threshold transaction reports.”
The company also did not respond to AUSTRAC’s request for information. Thomas said the regulator “deemed it too high risk to continue operating at present.”
Earlier penalties did not end the case
Meeting the earlier undertaking and paying a $56,340 fine in October 2025 did not prevent the latest action against Cryptolink.
AUSTRAC had accepted that enforceable undertaking after its Cryptocurrency Taskforce found alleged late reporting and weak risk assessments. Months later, the regulator still chose to suspend the company’s registration.
As described in the report, the earlier penalties did not settle the matter. They gave the operator more time, and that time was not used effectively.
96 machines sit inside a much larger network
Cryptolink’s 96 machines represent only part of a market that has expanded quickly.
According to AUSTRAC, Australia now has roughly 1,800 crypto ATMs, up from just 23 in 2019, giving it the largest number of such machines in the Asia-Pacific region. The Australian Federal Police has said about $275 million moves through the country’s Bitcoin and crypto ATMs every year.
Regulators are treating crypto ATMs as a higher-risk channel
Cash-to-crypto access points are increasingly being treated by regulators as a channel for scams and money laundering. The report notes that even operators themselves have admitted the industry became “a safe haven for bad actors.”
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister has proposed giving AUSTRAC the power to control or prohibit so-called high-risk products, including crypto ATMs. AUSTRAC’s Crypto Taskforce has also been engaging with operators since late 2024.
“We will continue to keep a close watch on the cryptocurrency sector, particularly businesses operating crypto ATMs, and will take action where we identify serious risks or non-compliance,” Thomas said.
The suspension runs until November 9, 2026.