Crackdown on crypto ATMs to combat money laundering

Australian authorities will soon launch a crackdown on cryptocurrency ATMS in an effort to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and serious crime risks.

The country's financial crime watchdog, AUSTRAC, estimates 85 per cent of the transactions sent by the top users of crypto ATMs are the proceeds of scams or activities by people, known as money mules, who illegally transfer money on behalf of criminals.

AUSTRAC, working with law enforcement agencies, found that where victims are stopped from transactions by other financial institutions, the criminals then move to crypto ATMs.

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It's estimated 99 per cent of transactions through the machines are cash deposits, which are high risk for money laundering, the federal government says.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will today announce reforms handing the AUSTRAC chief executive new powers to restrict or prohibit certain high-risk products, services or delivery channels, including crypto ATMs.

He will also outline new powers to disrupt money launderers using mule accounts, where criminals take over legitimate bank accounts, which they often obtain from from international students or other visa holders.

The government's Visa Entitlement Verification Online Terms and Conditions will be changed to give financial institutions more access to visa information, to help them identify and close mule accounts.

Burke says the crypto reforms are about "legitimising the good actors and shutting out the bad" in the currency.

Over the past six years, the number of active crypto ATMs in Australia has increased more than 15-fold, from 23 to more than 1600 today.

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