Canada’s financial watchdog unfortunately isn’t slowing down in its crypto crackdown. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) has already stripped registrations from 50 money services businesses (MSBs) this year, with 47 tied directly to cryptocurrency operations.
This crypto crackdown is far from over
On Monday, FINTRAC revoked 23 MSB registrations, all connected to crypto services. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne jumped in the next day with a strong statement, calling it a key piece of the government’s push to fight money laundering. He highlighted how FINTRAC is apparently holding up enforcement.
Champagne said these 23 cancellations show “a significantly increased pace of action,” and he promised the government will “maintain this momentum” in the ongoing crypto crackdown.
Further, he warned that officials will keep a close eye on virtual currency businesses, including cryptocurrency MSBs and those crypto ATMs popping up everywhere, because they can easily become tools for laundering cash or running scams.
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This latest wave in the crypto crackdown comes after Cryptomus got slammed with a massive $126 million penalty in October over serious violations, like skipping reports on more than 1,000 suspicious transactions in just one month and lacking proper compliance policies.
Then KuCoin faced a $14 million fine the month before for dodging registration requirements as a foreign MSB and failing to flag large crypto transfers with the right details.
Old-school banking, like wire transfers, has been the go-to for money launderers forever because of its huge scale. The Financial Action Task Force pegs global laundering through traditional systems at 2-5% of world GDP. Meanwhile, Chainalysis data shows illicit crypto activity is way lower, under 1% of all transactions.
But Canada isn’t taking chances…apparently.
