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, a direct operational shutdown of the company's crypto ATM network
- Cryptolink failed to meet basic reporting requirements — particularly threshold transaction reports — and did not respond to AUSTRAC's request for information, according to AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas
- The suspension follows an October 2025 enforceable undertaking after AUSTRAC's Cryptocurrency Taskforce identified alleged breaches including late transaction reporting and shortcomings in the company's risk assessments
- AUSTRAC had previously issued Cryptolink a $56,340 infringement notice, which the company paid — yet the compliance gaps persisted, prompting the escalation to an operational ban
- Cryptolink operates 96 Bitcoin ATMs across Australia, concentrated in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, where customers exchange cash for Bitcoin
- 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: With 96 ATMs concentrated in Australia's three largest cities going dark for three months, AUSTRAC is effectively pulling the plug on a major cash-to-Bitcoin corridor. The fact that a $56,340 fine and an enforceable undertaking failed to fix Cryptolink's reporting gaps means AUSTRAC has now escalated to the bluntest tool available — an operational shutdown — raising the stakes for every other crypto ATM operator in the region.
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