BPS Financial fined $9.67m over Qoin Wallet crypto promotion

It is also hit with a 10-year ban for making unlicensed services.

BPS Financial has been fined $9.67m (A$14m) over its promotion and operation of the Qoin Wallet crypto product in Australia.

The company promoted Qoin wallet as a “non-cash payment facility linked to a digital crypto token called Qoin,” according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The penalties include A$12m for misleading and deceptive conduct in connection with making false and misleading statements, and a further A$2m for unlicensed conduct.

Apart from the penalties, BPS is ordered to be restrained for 10 years from carrying on a financial services business without holding an Australian financial services licence.

BPS must also pay most of the costs incurred by ASIC for the proceedings; and must publish an adverse publicity notice on the Qoin Wallet application and take steps to request the publisher of the Qoin website to publish an adverse publicity notice.

In 2024, the federal court had since found BPS Financial to be engaged in unlicensed conduct for over three years by issuing and providing financial advice about the Qoin Wallet without holding an Australian Financial Services license.

BPS Financial is also found to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, making several false representations about the wallet, ASIC said in an online statement published 27 January 2026.

In 2025, the court found the company to be engaged in unlicensed conduct over an additional 10-month period, saying that BPS Financial could not rely on the “authorised representative” exemption under the Corporations Act.

Given the nature of these products, providers must have the appropriate licenses and authorisations, said ASIC Chair Joe Longo.

Longo said that the outcome sends a “strong message” to the crypto industry.

“The size of these penalties underscores the seriousness of BPS Financial’s misconduct and is intended to send a strong message of deterrence to the digital asset industry,” he said.

(US$1 = A$1.45; as of 27 January 2026, Morningstar via Google)