Australia’s Crypto Regulation Strategy

After a vacuum of three months, the Australian government finally breaks its silence to announce its position on crypto laws.

A Senate inquiry report entitled “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center” was made public the previous year, and it included a total of 12 recommendations. One of the recommendations was a “token mapping” initiative, which was presented by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. The sector had been waiting with bated breath to see if the ALP administration would embrace the study, and it was met with a warm reception when it was presented to them.

The goal of the token mapping project, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, is to contribute to “determining how crypto assets and associated services should be regulated” and to direct the choices that will be made in the future regarding regulatory matters.

The Australian government has made its position on the regulation of cryptocurrencies clear.

It has been rumored that the Treasury is working on some of the other ideas as well. These include a licensing framework for crypto asset service providers engaging in non-financial commodity crypto assets, relevant legislation to safeguard consumer crypto asset custody, and a review of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) company-style structure. All of these are examples of recommendations.

The administration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury Andrew Leigh, declared in a statement that they intend to regulate the “mostly unregulated” crypto sector as follows:

“As things are, the cryptocurrency industry is mostly unregulated, and we need to put in some effort to strike the appropriate balance so that we can accept new and innovative technology.”

In spite of the fact that over one million taxpayers have interacted with the crypto environment since 2018, the statement claims that “regulation is trying to maintain pace and adapt with the crypto asset market.”

According to the members of parliament, the previous administration, which was dominated by Liberals, “dabbled” in the regulation of crypto assets by way of crypto secondary service providers “without first knowing what was regulated:”

“The Government of Albanese is taking a far more professional approach to figuring out what is in the ecosystem and which hazards need to be investigated at first,”

Additionally, People Said

“Australia punches above its weight in blockchain right now,” said Michael Bacina, partner at Piper Alderman. “However, we have seen regulatory uncertainty lead to enterprises leaving Australia,” he said.

In addition to this, he stated:

“A sensible token mapping effort that helps regulators and policy makers understand in depth the activities they are aiming to regulate and how the technology interfaces with those activities should help regulation be fit for purpose and both boost innovation and jobs in Australia while safeguarding consumers,”

“Token mapping comes with a wide variety of additional benefits. According to Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, “It will bring greater clarity to crypto investors, aid enterprises in building their own blockchain-based innovations, provide guidance to digital currency exchanges, and assist regulators in shaping an appropriate regulatory regime.”