Illegal cryptocurrency activity in Australia remains less than 1%: TRM report

Less than 1% of Australian cryptocurrency transactions involved illegal actors. Even if such organizations in the country process $50 billion a year.

Even as the adoption of digital assets continues to grow, illicit activity is only a small part of Australia’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.

According to TRM Labs analysis, less than 1% of all on-chain cryptocurrency activity in the country from March 2025 to February 2026 was related to illicit counterparties, highlighting that the vast majority of transactions inherently occur within legitimate financial and commercial use cases.

Australian Crypto Ecosystem

During the same period, Australian crypto entities processed approximately $50 billion in total on-chain transactions, and the country recorded approximately $15 billion in inflows to centralized exchanges and decentralized finance platforms.

TRM Labs said that of the 95 countries it analyzed, Australia ranked 20th in terms of the total amount of cryptocurrencies received, placing it in the top quartile of the world.

Despite the growing role of digital assets in Australia’s financial system, the risk of exposure to criminal activity remains minimal compared to the overall size of transactions. Sanctions-related activities accounted for the largest proportion of illegal exposures, accounting for approximately 70% of the total amount of illegal activities identified during the period.

Darknet markets rank as the second largest category, followed by investment fraud and illegal goods and services. A small amount of illegal activity was related to categories such as banned substances, ransomware, fraud, terrorist financing, and broader cybercrime. The findings reveal that while criminals are increasingly incorporating cryptocurrencies into existing financial crime typologies, such activity remains a very small proportion of overall blockchain usage.

From drug markets to widespread crime

Historically, early crypto-related incidents in Australia were often associated with the drug market, but the ecosystem has since diversified as adoption has expanded and digital assets have been integrated into more areas of financial activity. At the same time, authorities are strengthening the regulatory and enforcement framework.

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The country has required digital currency exchanges to register with the Australian Transaction Reporting and Analysis Center since 2018, imposing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations such as customer due diligence, transaction monitoring and reporting of suspicious matters.

Meanwhile, Australia secured its first cryptocurrency-related money laundering conviction in 2025 following Operation Taipan, a multi-year Victoria Police-led investigation into a China-linked money laundering syndicate using digital asset infrastructure.