Australia introduces new rules for crypto transfers

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Australia introduces new rules for crypto

What will change for exchanges

According to AUSTRAC’s guidance on the Travel Rule, companies that transfer money, virtual assets or property for customers must collect, verify and pass on key information about the transfer. The regulator says this increases transparency across the transfer chain and gives supervisory authorities and law enforcement access to the necessary data.

For virtual asset transfers, sending institutions must check whether the receiving wallet is custodial or self-hosted. They must also conduct due diligence on the counterparty and pass on the required information if the other institution has the necessary license or is not required to obtain one.

Additional wallet checks

Transfers to self-hosted wallets will be treated differently. AUSTRAC says a company does not have to pass information to another company in the transfer chain if the funds are being sent to a self-hosted wallet. However, the sending institution must still collect and verify payer data, as well as collect information about the payee and data needed to trace the transfer.

This point has caused concern among users. Trader Greeny wrote on X that “crypto in Australia changes forever” and noted that small transfers would face the same checks as large ones. Separate compliance reviews also state that Australia has no minimum threshold for the crypto Travel Rule. This means the rule applies regardless of the transfer size.

Single rules for the crypto market in the EU

Meanwhile, Europe is also moving ahead with crypto reform. On July 1, the transition period for MiCA, the single regulation for the cryptocurrency market, ends in the EU. After that date, crypto exchanges, custodians and other digital asset service providers must obtain authorization under the new rules or stop serving EU clients. ESMA previously clarified that the MiCA transition period officially expires across the European Union on July 1, 2026.

MiCA is designed to replace fragmented national regimes with a single set of requirements for the entire European market. For companies, this means more rules on governance, disclosure, customer protection and internal controls. For users, it means stricter platform checks, but also less choice if some services fail to obtain a license in time. As in Australia, regulation does not ban cryptocurrencies, but it makes work through licensed platforms much more formalized.

As a reminder, it was reported in March that cryptocurrency platforms in Australia may need financial services licenses.

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