Is Monero legal in Australia? The rules in 2026

As of November 2026, it’s legal to own and use Monero in Australia. No law bans the coin; Australia’s anti-money-laundering law regulates the businesses that exchange, transfer or hold crypto for customers.^[1] What has changed is access: Kraken says Australian clients can’t deposit, hold or trade Monero, and CoinSpot lists it as unavailable.^[2][3]

Is it legal to own Monero in Australia?

Yes. Australian law regulates crypto mainly through the services businesses provide to customers. Since 31 March 2026, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act has used the term “virtual asset”: a digital representation of value that works as a medium of exchange, a store of value, a unit of account or an investment, isn’t issued by a government body, and can be transferred, stored or traded electronically.^[1] Monero fits that definition, as Bitcoin does.

The obligations fall on businesses that provide services with virtual assets, not on the coins themselves. The definition doesn’t depend on whether a coin’s transactions are private; our guide to how private Monero is explains what Monero hides. For other countries, see our country-by-country guide.

Do crypto exchanges in Australia have to register with AUSTRAC?

Yes. The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 replaced the old “digital currency exchange” rules with a wider regime for virtual asset service providers, and those changes took effect on 31 March 2026.^[1] A business must not provide a registrable virtual asset service unless it is a registered virtual asset service provider, and registration is with AUSTRAC, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. The old Digital Currency Exchange Register was replaced by a Virtual Asset Service Provider Register, and the services covered now go beyond exchanging crypto for money.^[1]

The same law added a “travel rule”: a business that sends a virtual asset transfer for a customer must pass on information about the payer and the payee.^[1] A business that starts moving virtual assets to or from a self-hosted wallet whose controller it hasn’t verified must report that service to AUSTRAC within 10 business days.^[1]

Can you buy Monero on Australian exchanges?

Not on the two exchanges we checked. Kraken, which operates in Australia through Bit Trade Pty Ltd, a business registered with AUSTRAC, says Australian clients “cannot deposit, hold or trade” Monero (XMR). Zcash and Dash are on the same list.^[2] CoinSpot’s Monero page says the coin can’t be traded at this time.^[3]

CoinSpot’s change goes back to 2020. ForkLog reported on 24 August 2020 that CoinSpot had told customers holding Monero and several other coins that trading in them would stop on 31 August, and that CoinSpot had confirmed sending the notice to holders of the affected coins.^[4]

Neither exchange’s page gives a reason. Our guide to why exchanges delist Monero covers the reasons exchanges usually give.

How is Monero taxed in Australia?

Crypto isn’t treated as a foreign currency for Australian tax purposes. When the government confirmed this in June 2022, the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer said: “Capital gains tax will continue to apply to crypto assets that are held as investments.”^[5] That includes Monero: a capital gain or loss can arise when you dispose of it.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) also matches data from crypto businesses against tax returns. Under a data-matching program covering the 2023–24 to 2025–26 financial years, it collects data from crypto designated service providers. The items include names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses, plus bank account details, wallet addresses, transaction dates and types, deposits, withdrawals, quantities and coin type.^[6]

The ATO expects records on 700,000 to 1,200,000 individuals and entities each year. It uses them to find people who didn’t report a disposal of crypto in their tax return, and to check that individuals and businesses that trade crypto or accept it as payment meet their lodgment, reporting and payment obligations.^[6]

What’s changing for crypto platforms in Australia?

A second law, the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026 and starts on 8 April 2027.^[7] It brings “digital asset platforms”, broadly facilities where an operator holds crypto on behalf of clients, into Australia’s financial services licensing system. It does the same for “tokenised custody platforms”, where an operator holds a real-world asset and issues a digital token that gives the holder the right to redeem it or direct its delivery.^[7]

Businesses that already hold an Australian financial services licence get a six-month transition period from 8 April 2027. If they apply for the new authorisation during that period, the new rules don’t apply to that service until the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) decides their application.^[7]

Very small platforms can be exempt from licensing. The conditions include that transactions through the operator’s platforms total no more than $10 million over the last 12 months, that the assets held for any one client were worth no more than $5,000 when they came onto the platform, and that the operator has told ASIC it relies on the exemption.^[7]

For nearby rules, see our guides for the UK and India.