Australia’s Finance Watchdog to Crack Down on Dormant Crypto Exchanges

Australia’s financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC is intensifying efforts to deregister inactive cryptocurrency exchanges to prevent criminal exploitation.

As of April 2025, 427 digital currency exchanges (DCEs) remain registered, but AUSTRAC suspects many are no longer operational and vulnerable to being co-opted for scams, money laundering, or terrorist financing.

Inactive exchanges are being contacted to voluntarily withdraw registrations or face cancellation. AUSTRAC has revoked 10 registrations since 2019, including FTX Express in June 2024. A searchable list of active exchanges will be published to help consumers verify legitimate providers.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas emphasized that maintaining an accurate register is critical to prevent criminals from exploiting dormant businesses and to protect consumers from scams. The agency has also taken recent action against 13 non-compliant remittance and crypto service providers, with over 50 others under investigation.

AUSTRAC is directly contacting registered exchanges suspected of inactivity, demanding they either resume operations or voluntarily deregister. The agency retains authority to cancel registrations unilaterally if businesses fail to respond or comply.

Inactive exchanges face immediate deregistration, with cancellations publicly listed to deter misuse. Companies can reapply if they restart operations, subject to fresh compliance checks.

Registered exchanges must continuously update operational details, including service changes, ensuring AUSTRAC’s records reflect current activities. Failure to maintain accurate data constitutes grounds for cancellation.

The public register will empower users to identify legitimate providers, while AUSTRAC’s enforcement actions aim to deter criminal co-option of dormant entities. The agency emphasizes consumer vigilance against unregistered services.

While Australia has yet to finalize comprehensive crypto regulations, the government proposed a framework in March 2025 to regulate exchanges under existing financial laws ahead of the federal election.

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