 has charged an ex-CEO of a crypto exchange with charges of Bitcoin fraud.){kind=link}
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has charged an ex-CEO of a crypto exchange with charges of Bitcoin fraud. According to an official announcement, After an ASIC investigation into an A$2.2 million cryptocurrency transaction in July 2022, Grant Colthup, the former CEO of ACCE Australia Pty Ltd (ACCE), appeared in the Magistrates Court in Ipswich on October 21, 2024, charged with one count of Bitcoin fraud.
Under the name “Mine Digital,” ACCE ran a digital asset exchange platform and provided bitcoin trading services to clients from May 2019 to September 2022.
According to ASIC, a Mine Digital customer spent A$2.2 million for Bitcoin from ACCE but never got any cryptocurrency in return. According to ASIC, Colthup utilized the money to settle ACCE’s debts and/or buy Bitcoin for other people.
Building on its strengthened enforcement program, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission will increase its oversight of the cryptocurrency sector with new guidelines.
Australia’s Scrutiny Over Crypto Firms Rises
ASIC had previously declared that it would revamp its policies towards crypto firms given the increased amount of crypto scams that the country was undergoing.
The action made it more difficult for cryptocurrency exchanges to get licenses, including the Australian Financial Services Licence provided by ASIC or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority license for payment facilities they have purchased.
Australians lost A$382 million in investment scams during the fiscal year 2023–2024, with 47% of the scams utilizing cryptocurrencies. Scams involving investments cost Australians A$1.3 billion in 2022.
Singing the same tone, in a worldwide operation, The Australian Federal Police partnered with a blockchain data platform to target criminal cryptocurrency scammers, identifying over 2000 corrupted Australian cryptocurrency wallets.
Using a strategy known as “approval phishing,” which has been used to steal more than $4 billion in Bitcoin from gullible victims worldwide since May 2021, the joint operation, dubbed as Operation Spincaster, targeted crypto-criminals.
To help stop more Australians from falling victim to cryptocurrency scams, the AFP had also created more intelligence about scam strategies and is still investigating the losses in Australia found in Operation Spincaster.
Australia Sees Slow Crypto Growth Due to Scams
Historically, blockchain and cryptocurrency enterprises have found stability and neutrality in Australia. The Commonwealth Government of Australia (Government) has supported new and innovative financial services and products in the financial technology (fintech) industry, which has allowed for tremendous growth.
Although growth is still occurring, it has slowed recently. Lower global economic growth, tumultuous crypto company closures, heightened regulatory enforcement, and the government’s comparatively slow progress in advancing crypto policy and legislation are the main causes of this.