In late October, Canada’s financial crimes regulator, FINTRAC, slapped a $126.14 million fine on Cryptomus for violating money-laundering laws and enabling ransomware payments and sanctions evasion. This came less than a month after the agency imposed a $14.09 million fine on KuCoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, over AML failings.
These enforcement actions have not been restricted to any one country. Here in Australia, AUSTRAC fined Revolut $124,046 (A$187,800) for missing the reporting timeline set by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Act. The agency has also ordered a Binance audit over AML concerns.
The United States may have pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, but the industry still can’t forget how US prosecutors very publicly secured a $4.3 billion settlement with the exchange in 2023. And neither can it the recent $100 million fine to BitMex for not implementing a proper KYC program.
Regulators around the world are coming down hard on crypto businesses that aren’t compliant with anti-money laundering rules. Some firms are facing regulatory scrutiny in multiple countries at the same time, and compliance with global AML rules has become an existential priority for exchanges, custodians, and institutional investors.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the FATF have also warned national agencies that inconsistent rules and enforcement gaps are creating opportunities for money laundering. According to the Chainanalysis 2025 Crypto Crime report, more than $40.9 billion was paid to illicit addresses in 2024.
However, after years of mixed enforcement, regulators appear to be moving in sync. Recent enforcement actions show non-compliance can lead to high fines and even legal trouble for company executives.
Regulators Push for Global Coordination
On 16 October, the Financial Stability Board described the implementation of its global crypto recommendations as “incomplete, uneven and inconsistent.” This language has been echoed by agencies and finance ministers in multiple countries and has led to more nations updating their frameworks to meet the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
Vietnam, for example, recently tightened its anti-money laundering rules to address implementation gaps after years on the FATF greylist. Now, crypto firms are finding jurisdictions with weak enforcement harder and harder to come across.
Still, regulators are happy with the current state of affairs. That’s because there are still countries, many of them outside the West and the Asia Pacific, that lag behind in implementing AML laws.
“Implementation progress remains incomplete, uneven and inconsistent. This creates opportunities for regulatory arbitrage and complicates oversight of the inherently global and evolving crypto-asset market”, said Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and chair of the FSB review team.
The Financial Action Task Force has also called for faster and more harmonised implementation. In a June 2025 update, the organisation renewed calls for countries to adopt stricter Travel-Rule and supervision measures.
These calls, alongside Asia’s growing AML directives, show that regulatory gaps that have so far allowed the flow of illicit funds are quickly closing. Crypto firms operating across borders are also finding it hard to rely on loopholes.
Global Crackdowns Intensify
Regulators are stepping up enforcement against crypto firms that fail to meet anti-money laundering standards. In Australia, the fines have so far been modest compared with some global penalties.
In addition to its six-figure fine on Revolut, AUSTRAC has also taken an A$75,120 enforcement action against Cointree and an A$56,340 penalty on Queensland crypto ATM operator Cryptolink.
The U.S. has been active on sanctions, too. OFAC has been actively targeting crypto platforms and networks that seem to help evade sanctions or take part in cybercrime. In an August 2025 press release on Grinex, the US government showed a willingness to impose wide net designations tied to geopolitical enforcement priorities. According to the Financial Times, Kremlin-linked stablecoins have moved billions of dollars in the past few years.
Treasury officials have signalled that they remain prepared to “take further action” where needed. “The United States will not tolerate abuse of this industry to support cybercrime and sanctions evasion,” said John K. Hurley, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “Exploiting cryptocurrency exchanges to launder money and facilitate ransomware attacks not only threatens our national security but also tarnishes the reputations of legitimate virtual asset service providers.”
One of the largest enforcement efforts happened just recently in mid-October, when the US government (alongside the UK) seized more than $14 billion (A$ 21.26 billion) from a Cambodian group. It then charged the founder, Chen Zhi, with facilitating a money laundering scheme.
AML Compliance Moves to the Forefront
Global regulators are tightening their grip on digital assets and AML compliance has gone from an afterthought for most crypto firms to a priority. AUSTRAC, FinCEN in the U.S., and the European Banking Authority have expanded oversight of virtual asset service providers to close AML implementation gaps.
As a result, crypto firms are now investing sizable chunks of their budgets on KYC programs and systems to flag and report suspicious transactions.
Firms that fail to meet AML standards risk hefty fines, losing access to many Western markets, or even losing their licenses.
Exchanges Feel Sanctions Pressure
Still, Western governments worry that digital assets can be used to bypass restrictions on states and individuals, from Kremlin-linked stablecoins to wallets tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) now require exchanges to screen transactions against updated sanctions lists in real time.
In Asia, many countries, including Hong Kong and Japan, are also tightening reporting obligations, especially for transactions routed through offshore wallets.
Compliance as a Competitive Edge
As enforcement actions pile up, meeting AML requirements is no longer an option. And while it does cost a pretty penny to ensure compliance, crypto firms and jurisdictions that have done it so far are enjoying a competitive advantage.
AML-compliant exchanges are finding it easier to gain the trust of banks and institutional investors wary of regulatory risk. The same goes for countries that are in the green with the FATF.
In the long run, compliance may prove to be crypto’s best growth strategy. The firms that adapt fastest to the new global rulebook won’t just survive the crackdown but also come out stronger.
