New Zealand will ban crypto ATMs to combat money laundering

What’s new? New Zealand authorities have announced a tightening of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system, which will see cryptocurrency ATMs completely banned due to their popularity among fraudsters.

Statement on the government’s website

What else is known? In April, the Ministry of Justice released a report based on research by the advisory panel on transnational, serious and organized crime, which found that criminals use cryptocurrency ATMs to transfer funds instantly overseas to fund drug imports and fraudulent schemes.

The ban comes in response to growing international concern about the role of cryptocurrency ATMs in fraud and money laundering.

In June, Australian regulator AUSTRAC examined data from nine crypto ATM providers and found that users over the age of 50 accounted for nearly 72% of transaction volume. They typically fall victim to fraudulent schemes.

As a result, Australia imposed a 5000 AUD limit on cash deposits and withdrawals from crypto kiosks, and required vendors to post fraud risk warnings, strengthen transaction monitoring and customer due diligence.

The city of Spokane in Washington state voted in favor of a complete ban on crypto kiosks after the FBI named the amount of losses due to fraud from such devices for 2024 ($5,6 billion).

In February, US Senator Richard Durbin introduced a bill to combat crypto ATM fraud, after which more than 1200 such devices were shut down across the country.

As for the tightening in New Zealand, authorities will introduce a bill to expand police and regulatory powers and allow financial intelligence to collect broader financial data.

In addition to banning crypto ATMs, the reforms include setting a $5000 limit on a single international transfer, which directly limits the ability of criminal organizations to move funds overseas.

“This Government is serious about targeting criminals, not tying up legitimate businesses in unnecessary red tape. We want New Zealand to be one of the easiest places in the world to do legitimate business and one of the hardest for criminals to hide,” said Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee.

According to Coin ATM Radar, there are 221 cryptocurrency ATMs installed in New Zealand.