Australia’s financial crime watchdog has suspended crypto ATM operator Cryptolink Pty Ltd for three months, requiring the company to take 96 cryptocurrency machines out of service nationwide.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, known as AUSTRAC, said the suspension came into effect on Aug. 9. Cryptolink is barred from offering virtual asset services for the duration of the order.
AUSTRAC said the decision followed the company’s failure to lodge mandatory transaction reports and its failure to respond to a request for information from the regulator.
Crypto ATMs enable users to convert cash into cryptocurrency, connecting the traditional financial system with digital assets. AUSTRAC said Cryptolink continues to raise concerns because of questions about whether it can adequately control transactions associated with elevated money laundering and terrorism-financing risks.
The regulator said Cryptolink initially fulfilled the requirements of an enforceable undertaking issued in October 2025. However, the company subsequently failed to provide required threshold transaction reports and did not answer an information request issued by AUSTRAC.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the breaches had raised the company’s risk profile to a level that made continued operations inappropriate for now.
The 2025 undertaking followed an investigation by AUSTRAC’s Cryptocurrency Taskforce into potential violations of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing framework. The investigation identified problems including delayed transaction reporting and shortcomings in Cryptolink’s risk-assessment processes.
AUSTRAC also imposed a A$56,340 penalty, worth approximately $36,600, which Cryptolink paid.
AUSTRAC Steps Up Crypto ATM Oversight
AUSTRAC warned crypto ATM providers in March 2025 that some operators might not have sufficient anti-money laundering controls to meet regulatory requirements.
The regulator tightened the rules further in June by introducing a A$5,000 ceiling on cash deposits and withdrawals through crypto ATMs. Operators were also required to strengthen customer verification, display scam warnings and improve transaction monitoring.
Thomas said AUSTRAC will continue to oversee Cryptolink throughout the three-month suspension and will intervene against other crypto ATM operators if serious compliance problems or financial crime risks are identified.
