Australia’s National Financial Intelligence Agency will receive powers to restrict or ban crypto ATMs under new draft legislation in the works from the country’s minister for cybersecurity and home affairs, Tony Burke.
Burke said During a speech at the National Press Club on Thursday the draft law would give the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUA) the ability to restrict or ban “high-risk products,” which include crypto atms.
While regular bank-operated ATMs are also used for scams and illegal activities, Burke said that in the case of crypto ATMs, authorities are having limited success in policing and tracking illicit funds and are concerned that they present a money laundering risk.
“I’m not pretending for a minute that everyone coming in and using a crypto ATM is a problem, but proportionally what’s happening is a significant problem in an area that’s harder for us to monitor.”
Australia was initially a slow market for crypto ATMs, but adoption is picking up increased significantly near the end of 2022 After private companies started piling up in the market, and the country is now The third largest hub For crypto ATMs, together 2,008, up from 67 in August 2022.
The crypto atm provider argues that there are already policies in place
More than half of crypto ATMs in Australia operated by three providers: LocalCoin, with 868 in its stable; Coinflip, with 682 ATMs; and Bitcoin Depot, with 267.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, a Coinflip spokesperson said that crypto ATMs are already subject to strict rules and Know your customer Verification, which includes submitting valid government-issued identification before conducting any transaction.
Austrac has previously led multiple crackdowns on crypto ATMs, and in June, it Roll out new operating rules and transaction limits.
The machines also have other safety measures
Coinflip also said the machines have cameras, pre-transaction monitoring through Blockchain Analytics and real-time scam warnings to help bad actors.
Related: New Zealand bans crypto atms from cracking criminal cash conversions
“Crypto ATMs are an important bridge between the physical and digital worlds, taking cryptocurrency out of the cloud and into the physical world with a familiar experience,” the spokesperson said.
“As traditional ATMs continue to decline across Australia, interest in cryptocurrency surges, and banks maintain a restrictive posture towards digital assets, the environment is already thriving for cats.”
The new powers will be optional
Burke said the government would not push for an outright ban on the engines or recommend a course of action for Austrac because it could result in a “legal challenge”.
However, he intends to give the “Power to restrict or ban those devices,” so the agency has the tools to police new technology in the way it decides.
“I’m not sure what the next thing is, and there will be times when Austrac might decide on something that doesn’t fit that definition, but like they want to ban or they want to fix?” Burke said.
“How do they want to deal with it? Are there ways to really avoid the problem? That is why they will have this power with respect to high-risk products,” he added.
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