New Zealand is pulling the plug on crypto ATMs and capping international cash transfers at $5,000 as part of sweeping reforms aimed at what the country’s government says will choke off money laundering and criminal finance.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee unveiled the government’s latest overhaul of its anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism regime in a statement on Wednesday.
A new bill will be introduced to expand enforcement powers for police and regulators, enable the Financial Intelligence Unit to gather broader financial data on persons of interest, and initiate consultation on a levy to fund the regime.
“This Government is serious about targeting criminals, not tying up legitimate businesses in unnecessary red tape,” McKee said in her statement. “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.”
The reforms include establishing an upper limit of $5,000 per transfer for international cash transfers, directly targeting the ability for criminal organizations to move funds offshore while allowing legitimate transfers through electronic bank channels.
An April report by the Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime found that criminals use these ATMs to “purchase crypto and transfer that crypto within minutes to offshore criminals to fund drug imports or to make payments associated with scams.”
Industry leaders have largely welcomed the crackdown as a necessary step to legitimize the sector, which hosts over 221 ATMs, as per Coin ATM Radar data.
“We have observed the rapid growth of crypto ATMs around the country for some time, but while we are keen to see the adoption of crypto, we also want to support that growth in a way that keeps customers safe and is compliant,” Janine Grainger, co-founder of New Zealand-based crypto trading platform Easy Crypto, told Decrypt. “For this reason, we applaud the ban.”
Grainger noted that the move “signals a maturing—not a dismantling—of the sector” and wasn’t unexpected.
She said that these changes primarily affect “high-risk or edge scenarios” rather than everyday users, who now prefer “safer, more transparent platforms such as reputable exchanges” over crypto ATMs with fees that can hit 20%.
Arjun Vijay, founder of crypto exchange Giottus, told Decrypt that “without sufficient safeguards like KYC in place, it was inevitable that Bitcoin ATMs would face bans in many jurisdictions.”
He pointed out that these ATMs “impose high conversion fees of typically 5-10%,” making them “less appealing to cost-conscious users” and mainly attracting those seeking privacy or to convert illicit crypto or cash.
The crackdown follows growing international concern over crypto ATMs’ role in fraud and money laundering.
Australia’s financial watchdog, AUSTRAC, recently placed the sector “on notice” after a taskforce flagged “worrying trends” in scams targeting the elderly.
In the U.S., Spokane, Washington, voted to ban crypto kiosks entirely following FBI data that showed $5.6 billion in 2024 fraud losses tied to the machines.
