Crypto Foundations
Lesson 5 of 5
A beginner-friendly path through crypto risk, exchanges, wallets, funding, fees and Australian registration context.
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Key takeaways
- AUSTRAC made its public Virtual Asset Service Provider register available in June 2026.
- Businesses providing registrable virtual asset services in Australia must be registered with AUSTRAC before providing those services, subject to applicable transition rules.
- Registration is an AML/CTF regulatory check; it should not be presented as a recommendation, investment-quality score or guarantee that a crypto asset will retain value.
- Use the legal or trading name and, where available, ABN/ACN to reduce the risk of confusing similarly named businesses.
What is the VASP register?
AUSTRAC's public Virtual Asset Service Provider register lets the public verify whether a virtual asset service provider is registered with AUSTRAC. AUSTRAC made the register public on 30 June 2026 as part of Australia's updated AML/CTF framework.
AUSTRAC says providers of registrable virtual asset services must enrol and register, and that it can refuse, suspend, cancel or impose conditions on a registration.
What registration tells you
A current registration tells you that the business appears on AUSTRAC's register for the relevant virtual asset services and is within the AML/CTF regulatory framework administered by AUSTRAC. The framework includes obligations around money-laundering and terrorism-financing risk, customer due diligence, reporting and record keeping.
What registration does not tell you
Do not turn 'AUSTRAC registered' into 'AUSTRAC approved investment'. Registration is not a prediction of investment performance, a guarantee against platform failure or hacking, or a statement that every crypto asset offered by the platform is a regulated financial product.
ASIC and Moneysmart separately explain that consumer protections depend on whether the particular digital asset or service falls within financial-services laws. That distinction should remain visible on provider profiles.
How to check a provider
AUSTRAC's user guidance says the VASP register can be searched by legal name or trading name, and by identifiers such as ABN, ACN or ARBN. For Trading Guide research, the safest process is to match the provider's legal entity and identifier rather than relying on a brand name alone.
- Find the legal entity named in the provider's Australian terms or regulatory disclosure.
- Search the AUSTRAC VASP register using the legal/trading name or business identifier.
- Check any conditions shown on the registration record.
- Keep the AUSTRAC check separate from ASIC/AFSL checks that may apply to financial products or services.
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Lesson 5 of 5: AUSTRAC registration and crypto exchanges
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Sources were reviewed on 22 September 2026. Provider pricing and product terms can change; verify current terms with the provider before acting.