Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is seeking to give new powers to the country’s anti-money laundering watchdog to crack down on cryptocurrency ATMs.
Burke proposed measures to allow the Australian Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC) to restrict or ban certain high-risk products, according to an announcement on Thursday.
The announcement did not specifically outline what the new powers would be, but said more details on the proposed amendments would be available in due course.
Crypto ATMs allow users to purchase cryptocurrencies by inserting cash or a bank card and receiving the cryptocurrencies in a wallet. However, they are often used for nefarious activities. Scammers may, for example, advertise products for sale, instruct their buyer to deposit funds into a specific wallet, and then disappear.
There are 2,100 such terminals in Australia, according to data provided by Coin ATM Radar.
AUSTRAC specifically highlighted crypto ATMs as an example of a product it sought to restrict, as they allow money launderers to convert cash into digital currency “that can be sent instantly and virtually anonymously around the world.”
“This is a product that is multiplying rapidly – six years ago there were 23 machines in operation,” AUSTRAC chief executive Brendan Thomas said. “Three years ago it was 200… That number has now increased to 2,000.”
AUSTRAC said the majority of high-value crypto ATM transactions were directly associated with scams or moving money to high-risk jurisdictions, based on a sample of 90 of the most prolific users, of which 85% were directly associated with scams or similar.
The watchdog enacted restrictions on the use of crypto ATMs earlier this year. put a limit on cash deposits and withdrawals and require operators to improve their due diligence.
Read more: New Zealand wants to ban crypto ATMs in anti-money laundering review
