Australia has tightened regulation of crypto ATMs to protect against fraud

What’s new? Australia has updated regulations for cryptocurrency ATM operators amid a rise in fraud. Thus, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) introduced a limit of 5000 Australian dollars ($3250) on cash deposits and withdrawals, requiring operators to post warnings about fraud risks, strengthen transaction monitoring, and customer verification.

Material by Cointelegraph

What else is known? AUSTRAC expects local crypto exchanges to “consider imposing similar restrictions if they accept cash for crypto transactions.”

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the new rules can be adjusted as needed while the agency works with law enforcement and ATM vendors to crack down on any suspicious activity:

“In light of the risks and harms, we consider it absolutely necessary to ensure the sector meets minimum standards and reduces the criminal misuse of crypto ATMs.”

The measures were taken after an AUSTRAC task force examined data from nine cryptocurrency ATM providers and found that the majority of users are over 50 years old and account for nearly 72% of transaction volume. They are typically the victims of fraudulent schemes.

The task force was established last September to investigate whether cryptocurrency ATMs had proper anti-money laundering (AML) checks in place.

More than 1200 crypto ATMs have shut down in the US following the introduction of an anti-fraud bill

Senator Richard Durbin’s initiative aims to protect senior citizens

Read more

There are nearly 150 000 transactions using cryptocurrency ATMs in the country each year, and about $275 million passes through them using cash to buy BTC, USDT, and ETH, according to AUSTRAC.

On June 3, Australian police said the country’s online cybercrime reporting system ReportCyber received 150 unique reports of cryptocurrency ATM fraud between January 2024 and January 2025.

They added that total losses exceeded 3,1 million Australian dollars ($2 million), but this “may be just the tip of the iceberg.”

The country’s crypto adoption rate has increased dramatically by the end of 2022. It is now the third-largest center for crypto ATMs, with Coin ATM Radar data showing that there are 1819 such devices in Australia, 67 more than in August 2022. The top crypto ATM providers in Australia include Localcoin with 753 devices, Coinflip (700), and Bitcoin Depot (182).