Australia’s financial regulator to crack down on inactive crypto exchanges

AUSTRAC, the Australian anti-money laundering agency, has requested registered but not yet operational cryptocurrency exchanges to voluntarily deregister, otherwise they will be forcibly deregistered. The agency stated on April 29 that among the current 427 registered exchanges, some that have not conducted business for a long time may be acquired by criminals for fraud. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas emphasized that registered companies need to update their operational status in a timely manner, otherwise they will face "use or deregistration" measures. AUSTRAC plans to publish a list of registered exchanges to help the public identify legitimate platforms. Since 2019, 10 institutions have had their qualifications deregistered, including a local subsidiary of FTX processed in June 2024. In February of this year, the agency also took compliance review measures against 13 remittance service providers and exchanges. Currently, Australia has not yet introduced specific cryptocurrency regulations, and the government plans to advance the inclusion of exchanges in the existing financial services law regulatory framework before the election on May 3.