New Zealand announced new steps on Wednesday to strengthen efforts to combat serious financial crime, including a ban on digital currency ATMs and new powers for financial crime police.
In a July 9 press release, New Zealand’s Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said the measures were part of a broader strengthening of the country’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.
“Since 2019, the global financial and regulatory landscape has shifted significantly,” said McKee. “We need a smarter, more agile AML/CFT system – one that targets criminals ability to launder money, while enabling New Zealand businesses to operate efficiently and competitively.”
She added that the government was serious about “targeting criminals, not tying up legitimate businesses in unnecessary red tape.”
One of the chief areas of concern identified was the digital asset space, particularly digital currency ATMs.
New Zealand bans crypto ATMs
In April, New Zealand’s Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime reported approximately 200 digital currency ATMs across New Zealand, usually located in small supermarkets, convenience stores, vape stores, petrol stations, and laundromats.
According to the report, “criminals can use these ATMs to purchase cryptocurrency and transfer that cryptocurrency within minutes to offshore criminals to fund drug imports or to make payments associated with scams.”
It also noted—by way of comparison to how other jurisdictions are dealing with the issue—that digital currency ATMs were made illegal in the United Kingdom in 2022. However, this is not entirely accurate.
In the U.K., ATMs offering digital currency exchange services are required to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the country’s top finance sector regulator, and comply with U.K. Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). None of the digital asset firms registered with the FCA have been approved to offer digital currency ATM services, which means that any digital currency ATMs operating in the U.K. are doing so illegally.
It’s unclear how many digital asset firms have applied to the FCA for digital currency ATM services, but the agency’s refusal—thus far—to approve any effectively amounts to a ban, in all but name.
Whether they view themselves as following in the U.K.’s footsteps or not, New Zealand has now gone one step further, explicitly announcing an outright ban.
On Wednesday, Associate Justice Minister McKee said the country would make it “more difficult for criminals to convert cash to high-risk assets such as crypto currencies by banning crypto ATMs.”
But this was just one of several new anti-financial crime measures announced.
Broader financial crime crackdown
On top of the digital currency ATM ban, McKee also revealed that the government has agreed to introduce a bill to strengthen enforcement powers for police and regulators, “to crack down on those involved in money laundering.”
The bill will, amongst other measures, establish a new financial sanctions supervisory regime, and set an upper limit on how much cash can be transferred internationally—$5,000 per transfer. According to McKee, this latter mandate is aimed at “reducing the ability of the criminal organisation to move its funds offshore.”
In addition, the bill will enable New Zealand’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to order banks and other businesses subject to the AML/CFT rules to provide ongoing relevant information on persons of interest.
“This will enable the more effective development of the financial intelligence needed to bring the criminals to justice,” said the Associate Justice Minister.
Despite this seeming tightening of controls, McKee emphasized that the various measures are aimed at making life more difficult for money launderers, not legitimate businesses.
“We want New Zealand to be one of the easiest places in the world to do legitimate business and one of the hardest for criminals to hide,” said McKee. “By cutting unnecessary red tape, we’re giving honest businesses room to grow, while sharpening our focus on serious threats.”
Digital currency ATMs not in vogue
New Zealand’s complete ban on crypto ATMs and the U.K.’s de facto ban are symptomatic of a general increase in unwanted attention of late, from global lawmakers and enforcement agencies, in the growing sector.
Earlier in the year, New Zealand’s antipodean neighbor, Australia, also decided to crack down on digital currency ATMs.
In April, Australia’s financial crimes watchdog put digital currency ATM operators on notice over a lack of AML/CFT checks. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), the country’s financial intelligence agency, issued the warning amid a spike in digital currency ATM usage in the country, which it said has provided fertile grounds for scammers and other criminals.
An investigation by an AUSTRAC task force, set up in September 2024 to investigate whether crypto ATMs had the proper AML/CFT checks in place, examined data from nine digital currency ATM providers over several months and concluded that it bears the hallmarks of scams, fraud, and other illicit activity. It also found that most users were over 50 years of age and accounted for almost 72% of all transactions by value.
This investigation was followed in June by AUSTRAC, which rolled out new operating rules and transaction limits for digital currency ATM operators. The agency announced it was imposing a AUD5,000 (US$3,250) limit on cash deposits and withdrawals from digital currency ATMs, as well as scam warning signs, more robust transaction monitoring, and enhanced customer due diligence obligations.
The same day AUSTRAC announced its new digital currency ATM measures, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed that the country’s online cybercrime reporting system, ReportCyber, had received 150 unique reports of scams involving crypto ATMs between January 2024 and January 2025. The AFP said that total losses exceeded AUD3.1 million (US$2 million), which it added “may be just the tip of the iceberg.”
These kinds of damning stats are not unique to Australia. In the United States, where data from Coin ATM Radar puts the number of digital currency ATMs at over 30,000 nationwide, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that losses by U.S. consumers from digital currency ATM fraud increased nearly 10X between 2020 and 2023—from $12 million to $114 million.
For this reason, in February Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, “to help prevent scammers from stealing Americans’ savings through cryptocurrency schemes.”
The bill would, amongst other mandates, require digital currency ATMs to carry warnings about the risk of fraud; prevent new users from spending more than $2,000 daily or $10,000 over a 14-day period at crypto ATMs; require live, verbal confirmation for any transaction greater than $500; and allow for full refunds when users file police reports and alert operators within 30 days of their transactions.
Durbin’s bill remains in the committee stage in the Senate, and without any Republican co-sponsors, it seems unlikely it will make it into law, but it does demonstrate a determination from some U.S. lawmakers to tackle the controversial digital currency ATM sector.
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Source: https://coingeek.com/new-zealand-bans-bitcoin-atms-in-crackdown-on-financial-crime/