Canada’s financial intelligence agency has revoked the registrations of 50 money services businesses so far this year, 47 of them tied to cryptocurrency operations, as the federal government escalates its fight against money laundering in the digital assets sector.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada announced the most recent wave of cancellations on March 17, revoking 23 registrations in a single action — the largest single-day enforcement sweep this year.
Two of the affected firms are foreign operators: Finast, registered in Slovakia, and Commerce Plex, based in the United Kingdom, both of which offered cryptocurrency alongside money transfer and exchange services.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who oversees FINTRAC, tied the action directly to Ottawa’s broader anti-money laundering push.
“Today alone, there have been 23 revocations of money services businesses registrations, a requirement for these businesses to operate legally in Canada,” Champagne said in a statement. “This represents a significantly increased pace of action, and our government will maintain this momentum.”
Grounds for revocation include failure to respond to regulatory information requests within 30 days, non-compliance with registration requirements, and failure to keep business details current. Affected firms have a 30-day window to request a review.
The sweep follows major penalties against crypto platforms in recent months. FINTRAC fined Cryptomus $126 million for failing to file over 1,000 suspicious transaction reports and for lacking a written compliance program.
Exchange KuCoin separately received a $14 million penalty for operating without proper registration and incomplete transaction reporting.
Champagne also pointed to structural reinforcements underway, including increased RCMP resources, a new Canadian Financial Crimes Agency, and strengthened FINTRAC powers under Bill C-12. The government cited virtual currency businesses — particularly crypto ATMs and foreign-based platforms — as posing elevated risks for facilitating money laundering and fraud.
Canada has classified cryptocurrency services as part of its regulated financial sector since June 2020. The Canadian Securities Administrators separately reported deactivating 7,586 scam platforms linked to more than 13,000 URLs between June 2025 and February 2026.
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