At least a temporary one.
Last week, AUSTRAC, the Australian Government financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulator, announced that the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, is pushing to give the department the option to “restrict or prohibit certain high-risk products, services or delivery channels”.
I have a love-hate relationship with this idea.
I support the proposal because the last thing I want is for people to fall victim to Bitcoin ATM scams.
A US-based report noted that scams through Bitcoin machines have skyrocketed, going from $12 million in 2020 to $240 million just in the first six months of 2025.
“Crypto transactions are becoming integrated into money laundering methodologies and crypto ATMs present even more risks due to the ability to turn cash into digital currency that can be sent instantly and virtually anonymously across the globe.”
AUSTRAC
This is nothing new, but remember that stablecoins account for 63% of illicit transaction volume according to Chainalysis’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report.
Still, last week’s high-profile announcement of $15 billion seizure of BTC and sanctions linked to a “pig-butchering” organisation in Southeast Asia doesn’t help the public’s perception of Bitcoin.
But people don’t realise that crimes could have been conducted with any cryptocurrency, let alone any other asset: cash, luxury goods, art, gold, etc., or a combination of these across various locations.
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There was a situation I witnessed about a year ago that still lingers in my mind.
At my local shopping centre, I saw a 60-something man depositing a wad of 50 AUD notes into a Bitcoin ATM.
Part of me was inclined to ask, “Excuse me, sir, are you being scammed?”
But between not wanting to intrude and being in a rush that day, I decided not to ask.
It’s hard to tell, because there is a report that Baby Boomers are the fastest-growing group of Bitcoin investors in Australia. For example, an article from May covered this senior couple who turned a A$49,000 investment in Bitcoin in 2019 to nearly half a million dollars, cashed out last year.
The AUSTRAC media release also mentions that the 50- to 70-year-old cohort is the biggest user of crypto ATMs, representing roughly 72% of transactions in value.
The dilemma is that older people are more likely to fall for scams, especially sophisticated ones that look legitimate. The FBI covered this in detail in an April 2024 news release.
Surprising for some, but not so much when you consider many of them who have downsized their properties, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, are flush with cash.
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There needs to be better education about identifying Bitcoin and crypto scams, let alone in general. As Bitcoin and crypto scams get more sophisticated, all it takes is a lapse in concentration and you’re compromised.
Bitcoin has borne of brunt of criticism it comes to fraudulent claims, garnering a negative reputation as a scam, a Ponzi scheme, etc.
Yes, it’s far less of an issue than before January 2024, when BlackRock and other spot Bitcoin ETFs got the all clear from the US SEC, but it still gets a bad rap among many individuals and some institutional investors.
On the contrary, I hate this idea because it leads to further surveillance and restrictions, and it also takes away financial opportunities from Bitcoin ATM operators trying to do the right thing.
Mind you, some of this is self-inflicted.
Adam Zarazinski, CEO of Inca Digital, a digital‑asset intelligence firm, was recently interviewed by Jay O’Brien from ABC News about such scams.
O’Brien: “They (the Bitcoin ATM companies) have a financial incentive to let people be scammed?”
Zarazinski: “Yep, because they make a per cent on every transaction.”
If these operators exercised more due diligence by imposing stricter KYC AML requirements for clients using Bitcoin/crypto machines, and intervened more, there wouldn’t be a need for governments to step in, at least not as much.
Then again, it would be counterintuitive and mostly impractical for one business to voluntarily do this while others have fewer security checks. Hence, the government oversight.
Additional thoughts
While there’s a simple workaround for this by going through a centralised exchange, severely restricting/banning the use of Bitcoin ATMs will annoy those who prefer a more direct method of depositing cash to buy satoshis.
This is why I said it should be a “temporary ban” until more is done to lower the risk of consumers falling victim to scams, and to crack down on money laundering.
It’s one thing for a middle power like Australia to enforce major restrictions on Bitcoin ATM, it’s another for the USA to do it. With increased public awareness about this issue, not to mention trillions of dollars of new money entering the space, some U.S. regulators will feel compelled to take enough action.
This profoundly pisses me off, considering that many retail investors have squandered massive opportunities to accelerate financial independence, much to the delight of institutional investors that have aggressively snapped up BTC, ETH and other major digital assets in recent years.
Moreover, many nations are losing out on hundreds of billions of dollars in additional Bitcoin and crypto windfalls through:
- Lost tax revenue through capital gains, i.e., more tax revenue if a higher percentage of people got involved in this asset class in the early days
- Not having purchased BTC in the past when it was significantly cheaper, unlike El Salvador
- Talent is going offshore to greener pastures in the USA, Asia and Europe
- (Thinking of Australia) The lack of corporate incentives and the failure to take advantage of the abundance of renewable energy Down Under, coupled with the absence of nuclear power, are preventing the attraction of Bitcoin mining firms.
For context, this Chainalysis study shows that India and the USA lead the world in cryptocurrency adoption, so there’s a lot more work to do. Nonetheless, roughly 550 million people are involved in this asset class (2024 figures), accounting for less than 7% of the world’s population.
There’s a balancing act between governments establishing and enforcing “reasonable” regulatory frameworks and over-the-top rules that make it almost impossible for every day, law-abiding citizens to interact with Bitcoin/crypto ATMs.
I hope lawmakers don’t ruin it for us, but I am not holding my breath. Still, a pro-crypto government in the USA gives me hope for this industry and asset class.
You might also be interested in these stories:
https://cryptowithlorenzo.medium.com/these-crypto-scams-are-becoming-more-sophisticated-40f35dc6e657
https://medium.com/@cryptowithlorenzo/its-not-too-late-to-own-at-least-half-a-bitcoin-eba7ac43a21c
https://cryptowithlorenzo.medium.com/bitcoin-is-going-to-zero-5562122f5481
Disclaimers
- This blog post is for informational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or investment advice. You are ultimately responsible for your decisions.
- My opinions in this piece may not reflect those of any news outlet, person, organisation, or entity listed here.
- Please do sufficient research before investing in any cryptocurrency assets, staking, NFTs, or other products associated with this space.
Featured image by JeremyWord at Shutterstock.
