Australia to Require Crypto Firm Financial Services Licenses
Australian authorities are getting ready to apply more stringent licencing policies on bitcoin markets. By November 2024, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will need crypto companies to have financial services licenses with an aim to improve openness and consumer safety. Treating highly traded digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum as financial goods under the Corporations Act, this will apply to them.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland underlined that the complexity and hazards in the bitcoin industry need for new rules. He underlined that many Australian cryptocurrency companies are already seen as being under financial product rules and ought therefore to be subject to the same licencing restrictions as conventional financial institutions.
The new rules will clarify the legal categorization of some crypto tokens and associated items. These developments will provide companies in the industry more assurance so they may fit the current financial services structure. Although ASIC encourages digital asset innovation, Kirkland said that maintaining appropriate consumer protection and market integrity comes first.
Before deciding on the rules, ASIC wants to publish draft guidelines in the next months and invite comments from sector players. According to Kirkland, these new regulations will assist Australia’s financial industry be more innovative, customer confidence raised, and risks lessened.
Not everyone, meanwhile, accepts the gradual speed of regulatory growth. Arguing that Australia has gone from a pioneer in the field to a laggard over the past few years, Senator Andrew Bragg has attacked the government of Australia for lagging behind in worldwide crypto control. He noted that Australia is now in the “crypto slow lane” as promises of a regulatory framework have been broken via delays in progress.
Bragg also charged the government of forsaking a 2022 plan to control crypto service providers. He voiced questions on the government’s will to make any notable advancement on crypto laws during the current Parliament term.
Australia’s upcoming rules will be very important in determining the digital asset scene as global authorities grip on the crypto sector gets tighter. Adapting to these new criteria will be essential for Australian crypto companies to keep running and survive in the changing legal climate.
