ASIC Hammers Financial Adviser with Decade-Long Ban – Regulatory Crackdown Intensifies

Another ''trusted'' financial adviser gets the boot—ASIC just handed down a brutal 10-year exile from the industry. Guess those client portfolios weren''t as ''optimized'' as their LinkedIn profiles claimed.

Regulators aren''t playing nice anymore. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) just made an example out of another finance pro, banning them for a full decade. No slap on the wrist—just a career nuke.

Welcome to the era of zero tolerance. While crypto traders operate in regulatory gray zones, traditional finance keeps getting hammered by watchdogs. Maybe decentralized finance doesn''t sound so crazy now?

Australian regulators cracking down on crypto-related crimes and fraud

Meanwhile, ASIC’s action is part of nationwide efforts to crack down on investment scams and crypto-related crimes in Australia. The regulator has been at the forefront of this by shutting down over 10,000 investment scam websites as of the end of February, including over 1,200 crypto-related scams.

Last month, ASIC also a former executive of crypto exchange ACX.io, Liang “Allan” Guo, over the exchange’s collapse. ACX collapse has left users with millions in losses while Guo has fled the country.

Interestingly, it is not just ASIC clamping down on crimes and other crypto-related scams. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) also just introduced new requirements for operators of crypto automated teller machines (ATMs).

The new rules limit withdrawal and deposit to AU$5,000, which is around US$3,250. It also requires the ATMs to display warning messages to prevent users from falling victim to fraud while increasing their Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering requirements.

Interestingly, AUSTRAC refused to renew the license of a crypto ATM operator, Harro’s Empire, due to concerns about its ATM misuse.

Meanwhile, the Australian police recently charged four people with money laundering using cryptocurrencies. According to the police, the criminal gang has laundered around $125 million with crypto.

Crypto adoption in Australia continues to grow

While recent regulatory efforts might give the impression of a crypto crackdown in Australia, the reality is far from this. In fact, the increase in regulatory efforts is a reaction to the rising adoption of crypto in the country, which some bad actors are trying to take advantage of.

For instance, Australia now has almost 2,000 crypto ATMs, a significant number compared to the 23 it had in 2019. These ATMs process about 150,000 transactions annually, with 72% of their usage done by individuals over 50 years.

Interestingly, more than 30% of Australians own or have owned crypto assets, according to a survey earlier this year, with another 14.3% interested in investing in crypto.

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