Authored by Rex Widerstrom via The Epoch Times,
Australian crime-fighting and financial agencies are moving to prevent the use of cryptocurrency for money laundering, scams, and money-mule activities.
Illustration of Bitcoin and Ethereum coins held together in front of diverses EURO banknotes in Paris, France, on June 5, 2026. Joao Luiz Bulcao/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Australian Banking Association (ABA), Transparency International, and the regulator, AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre), are backing a proposal to amend the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
The change means the CEO of AUSTRAC can limit or stop a "reporting entity" or institution from using a "high-risk mechanism," such as cryptocurrency, to transfer funds.
The CEO must be satisfied that transferring funds has or will cause "significant harm to either the financial system, the Australian community, or both."
Currently, there are around 19,000 reporting entities, including banks and credit unions; non-bank lenders and stockbrokers; gambling and bullion service providers; and remittance service and virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
All are required to have processes and controls in place to protect their systems from criminal misuse.
Yet that number will soon expand to over 100,000 when new sectors, including lawyers, accountants, conveyancers, real estate professionals, and dealers in precious metals and stones, come under Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime from July 1 this year.
Sector-Wide Powers Needed, AUSTRAC ArguesSenator Michaela Cash asked what evidence suggested AUSTRAC's current powers were inadequate.
Daniel Mossop, the centre's national manager for policy rules, said current law mandated that the agency take a case-by-case approach, looking at individual businesses.
"What we can't do is have a look at a sector or a channel or a product and say, 'On the basis of what we are seeing here, there is an unacceptable risk,' [and] when you're dealing with really high-risk things, [it] becomes more inefficient.
"What we've seen over the last few years is a proliferation of new channels, payment methods, and products ... the real diversification of the market.
"When we have looked at some of these channels, what we have seen is high levels of criminal misuse in particular sectors, and that has caused us, along with the department [of Home Affairs], to start questioning whether the policy and legislative settings are right to deal with that type of threat," Mossop said.
Cash then asked officials whether they would support a change requiring the AUSTRAC CEO to report to Parliament on any prohibitions imposed.
Andrew Warnes, first assistant secretary of Home Affairs' criminal justice division, said there would be a "range of information" available and that lawmakers could always overturn the CEO's decision.
"We do not expect the power will be used particularly regularly," Warnes said.
"It will be a power that will be used occasionally, at best, based on our discussions with AUSTRAC. And when you look at the use of other powers in AUSTRAC's legislation, this is going to sit at the higher end, and you will have that parliamentary review, ostensibly of [every decision].
"A review mechanism is ultimately a matter for parliament, if it wants to do it. I expect this will be used on such a sparse occasion that your review will only be looking at one example. The next mechanism that might be banned might not have even been invented yet."
Crypto ATMs Major Area Of ConcernOne are of concern is cryptocurrency ATMs, which have proliferated from 23 machines in 2019 to about 2,000 today - Australia has the third highest volume of such machines globally.
AUSTRAC told the committee it estimates that almost 150,000 transactions, totalling over $275 million, occur every year via crypto ATMs, with about 99 percent being cash deposits to make purchases.
The ABA says (pdf) they have been linked to "significant scam-related activity, high-risk cash-based transactions, and the rapid movement of illicit funds."
The recent Crypto Crime Report, shows a 162 percent year-on-year increase in the amount of cryptocurrency received by criminals.
That led the ABA to suggest the new powers be used on that channel than on banks.
"Banks are already subject to prudential supervision by APRA (Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority) and market conduct regulation by ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission), both of which hold comparable product intervention powers," said Chris Taylor, the ABA's chief of policy.
"Extending the AUSTRAC CEO's power to ADIs (Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions) creates overlapping regulatory authority without a corresponding uplift in risk mitigation."
Further, crypto ATMs charge fees of up to 17 to 19 percent, or more, on the purchase of cryptocurrency.
"There's clearly some degree of consumer harm or some risk of consumer harm going on," Taylor argued.
"AUSTRAC's data is clearly showing that people who are using these ATMs are either themselves subject to a scam or they are involved in money mule activities, which is helping to move criminal proceeds, either from scams or from other types of illicit activities, so we really struggle to see a legitimate use case here."
A large number of scam victims tricked into sending money via crypto ATMs were elderly, Taylor said.
"When AUSTRAC first released this data, they talked about an 85-year-old woman who had physically fed in, over the course of a year, $325,000 of her life savings. That's heartbreaking."
The banks also want the period during which any channel was prohibited to be reduced from 3 years to 18 months, in line with the powers of ASIC.
Transparency International supported the bill, saying in its submission that, "For too long, Australia has been a major destination for kleptocrats, organised crime gangs, and corrupt officials to wash their illicit funds. Much of this dirty money flows out of low and middle-income countries."
The bill also amends the meaning of financing terrorism to include new offences of providing monetary support to a state sponsor of terrorism.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/11/2026 - 20:05A widow who was told her Social Security funds were being used to support terrorism nearly lost $700,000 in a gold scam, according to WOOD ABC 8.
The fraudsters convinced her to buy gold, but a suspicious coin dealer alerted authorities before the transaction could be completed. Ben Soldaat, owner of Grand Rapids Coins, noticed several red flags. The woman seemed confused, unusually urgent, and showed little interest in the gold itself. Concerned she was being manipulated, he contacted the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators learned the woman had been told by a caller posing as a Social Security agent that criminals were using her account for terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering. She was instructed to buy gold so law enforcement could supposedly track the offenders.
Yug ChauhanWorking with detectives, authorities set up a sting operation. Instead of real gold, an undercover officer posing as the woman delivered a package of chocolate gold coins to the courier sent to collect it.
The report says that the courier, 20-year-old Yug Chauhan of Illinois, was arrested and charged with false pretenses over $100,000 and using a computer to commit a crime—both 20-year felonies.
Investigators believe the scam originated in India and are continuing to pursue those behind it.
Officials say gold-related scams targeting seniors are becoming increasingly common nationwide, often involving callers who impersonate government agents. They stress that family members and businesses play a critical role in spotting warning signs before victims lose their savings.
The targeted woman ultimately recovered her money and later thanked Soldaat for intervening. She hopes her experience serves as a warning to others, noting that many scam victims are not as fortunate.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/11/2026 - 19:40Authored by Patti Garibay via RealClearPolitics,
The parents of California high school track athlete Reese Hogan did something no parent should have to do. They went to the press to ask why Gov. Gavin Newsom is fine letting a biological boy compete against their daughter for a girls' title. Reese put in the hard work required for a girl to take home the title. Reese is the one who deserves the trophy. But in 2026, asking for a fair race makes you the troublemaker.
A few hundred miles up the coast, Nicki Minaj said she's done biting her tongue. Her California home keeps getting "swatted," and Newsom's office hasn't lifted a finger. She accuses Jay-Z and Roc Nation of trying to destroy her career.
To be clear, Minaj has made choices and taken positions many conservative Christians wouldn't endorse. But that's precisely what makes this so revealing. Even someone who once fit in so comfortably within an elite cultural crowd can be cast out the moment she refuses total ideological conformity. She has become a whistleblower of what many women already knew: The woke crowd celebrates women only as long as they stay compliant. The second you deviate from the approved script, you're on your own.
Let's think about that for a minute. A rap star with millions of fans feels she's run out of room in today's celebrity culture. If she can't speak her mind, what hope does a stay-at-home mom in Cincinnati have when she shows up to a school board meeting?
These examples illustrate that feminism is no longer about women. It's about sticking to a script. Question the script - about your body, your faith, your daughter's locker room, your right to stay home and raise babies - and the same crowd that once chanted about your "liberation" will call you a danger to society.
Our girls grow up watching this unfold, learning very early what kind of woman this culture will tolerate.
Nowhere is the script more obvious than in the fawning reception over the new novel "Yesteryear." The book imagines a so-called "tradwife" taken back to 1855 to suffer for the sin of choosing motherhood and modesty. The reviews are exhausting. The point is not subtle. Women who choose home, husband, and Sunday morning church are to be pitied or mocked. Never mind that those women are some of the happiest people I know. Never mind that the moms I meet for coffee tell me their grandmothers had something we lost, and they want it back.
More than 30 years ago, mothers like me looked at what the Girl Scouts had become and knew we needed an alternative. Our daughters deserved more than moral relativism dressed up as girl power. We started with 10 American Heritage troops in Cincinnati. Today we have tens of thousands of members across the country. Not just because we are counter-cultural, but because we are anchored, and we're clear about who these girls are and Whose they are.
Here's what clarity looks like for girls today. It's a seven-year-old learning to tie a square knot and pray confidently out loud with her troop for the first time. It's a 12-year-old earning her camping badge while learning the simple, biological fact that God created us male and female. It's a high-schooler putting her phone in a basket at troop meetings and rediscovering what her own voice sounds like.
That is the future. It is bold and brave in a way that the loudest voices cannot tolerate. It's a simple yet profound message I will keep sharing with young girls every chance I get. I hope other women break free of perceived barriers about what women should say or think. When they do, they'll find genuine freedom in choosing courage, conviction, and clarity, and stepping into the calling God himself placed on their lives.
To Nicki, and to every woman who feels she has been kicked out of a club she didn't even want to join, I would say this: You are not crazy, and you are not alone. Real freedom was never found in burning down every wholesome thing your great-grandmother believed in. That isn't liberation. It's just a new kind of bondage, dressed up as progress. Real freedom is what God designed for us from the beginning - life inside the guardrails of His perfect love and wisdom.
To the parents of Reese Hogan, and to every parent watching this nonsense and wondering if anyone is paying attention: We are. We are raising girls who will grow into women who refuse to be bullied off the starting line.
The feminism our culture peddles today has decided to trash women. But common-sense Americans will be over here doing what we have always done - raising bold and brave girls, one campfire and one prayer at a time.
Tyler Durden Thu, 06/11/2026 - 19:15