Australian Financial Crime Agency Orders Audit of Crypto Exchange Binance

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) noted the “increasing vulnerability of digital currencies to criminal abuse,” in a statement on Friday. The exchange has been given 28 days to nominate external auditors for AUSTRAC’s selection.

AUSTRAC is Australia’s leading regulator for compliance to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act. The agency regulates businesses covering finance, gambling, bullion, remittance and digital currency exchange services.

Limited oversight

The regulators concerns originate from Binance Australia’s latest most recent independent review, which the agency states was “limited in scope relative to its size, business offerings and risks.” AUSTRAC also highlighted a high staff turnover and “lack of local resourcing and senior management oversight.”

“This is a global company operating across borders in a high-risk environment,” said Brendan Thomas, CEO of AUSTRAC. “We expect robust customer identification, due diligence and effective transaction monitoring.”

Global systems

Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world by transaction volume but that does not necessarily guarantee it meets local regulatory requirements, said Thomas. He notes that the business must be adaptable to the local regulatory regime. 

“Businesses can have systems and processes that apply to multiple jurisdictions – but they need to reflect local regulatory requirements. The systems must adapt to the regulatory requirements, not the other way around.”

US settlement

It’s not Binance’s first brush with anti-money laundering regulation, or Australian regulatory bodies. 

In 2023, the exchange reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for chargesincluding anti-money laundering failures. Binance’s founder and then CEO Changpeng Zhao was prosecuted and served a four-month prison sentence.

In December 2024, The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) sued Binance, alleging the exchange misclassified clients and failed to provide consumer protection.

ATM restrictions

AUSTRAC has been toughening its stance on crypto recently, with a history of public scepticism about the asset class. It has backed up its words with actions. In June 2025, the agency denied one crypto ATM operator’s licence renewal for “exhibiting ongoing risks that its CATMs could be exploited,” and it placed more stringent restrictions on other crypto ATM providers. The agency estimated there are over 1,800 crypto ATMs in the country, with 150,000 transactions conducted annually.

The June statement noted, “This action draws a clear line in the sand and serves as a warning to other digital currency exchange providers that aren’t meeting their responsibilities under the AML/CTF Act.”