Australia orders Cryptolink Bitcoin ATMs offline over ‘basic reporting’ failures
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- AUSTRAC suspended Cryptolink's Virtual Asset Service Provider registration for three months starting Sunday, citing "ongoing concerns" about the company's ability to manage high-risk transactions through its crypto ATMs.
- Cryptolink failed to meet basic reporting requirements — particularly threshold transaction reports — and did not respond to AUSTRAC's request for information, AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said Monday.
- Cryptolink entered an enforceable undertaking with AUSTRAC in October 2025 and paid a $56,340 infringement notice after the Cryptocurrency Taskforce identified alleged breaches including late transaction reporting and shortcomings in risk assessments.
- Cryptolink operates 96 Bitcoin ATMs across Australia, mostly in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, allowing customers to exchange cash for Bitcoin — a footprint that will go dark during the suspension.
- Australia has the highest number of crypto ATMs in the Asia-Pacific region, and authorities have been cracking down on criminal use of crypto ATMs since at least late 2024.
Why it matters: Cryptolink's 96 ATMs will go offline for three months — a hard shutdown rather than another warning — after the operator had already paid a $56,340 fine and signed an enforceable undertaking in October 2025. The move signals AUSTRAC's escalating tolerance: basic reporting failures now cost a market-leading operator its operating license outright, not just another fine.
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