Australia’s Treasury Department has begun efforts to further adjust cryptocurrency regulation. It published a consultation paper titled “Regulating Digital Asset Platforms” to outline its approach. Cryptocurrency exchanges will be regulated under existing financial services laws, rather than creating new regulations specific to cryptocurrencies. The primary purpose of this regulation is to monitor and regulate cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers, not individual cryptocurrencies or tokens. Australia’s Treasury Department is considering forcing cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain financial services licenses from local financial regulators. The proposed rules would only apply to cryptocurrency exchanges with a share value of more than US$3.2 million (US$5 million) or US$946 (US$1,500). a person.
Why is this important? With one in four Australians owning some form of cryptocurrency, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said they are taking swift, systematic action to create a regulatory framework that balances consumer protection with encouraging innovation in the digital asset industry.
