Australia is accelerating efforts to regulate its budding crypto sector in order to make it safe for engagement. In a fresh development, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino have introduced a bill that details proposed crypto regulations in the country. The name of this bill is the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025.
The move comes in alignment with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s vision of making Australia a lucrative region for crypto companies to expand into, while also ensuring the safety of the involved business and investor communities.
Proposed crypto rules on the table
Australia, much like the U.S., the U.K., and India among other nations, is looking to establish clear licensing requirements for firms offering services related to crypto assets.
Part of these rules, digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms will be mandated to acquire and maintain an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). To secure this licence, the firms will have to keep communication with consumers clear and direct. Additionally, the firms will also have to maintain stringent risk management capabilities.
“Currently, businesses can hold unlimited client digital assets without financial law safeguards. Recent collapses overseas have shown the consequences of inadequate oversight. The new legislation introduced today closes those gaps,” Chalmers said in a statement commenting on the bill.
Digital asset service operators controlling under $5,000-per-customer and $10 million in yearly transactions have been classified as “low risk” in the proposed bill. These companies have been exempted from the licensing regime.
“New research from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre indicates Australia could capture as much as $24 billion a year in productivity and cost savings thanks to unlocking digital finance innovation,” Chalmers added.
Australia’s ongoing crypto regulatory work
Regions like the U.S. and the EU, with their comprehensive crypto regulations, have started attracting investment from industry players. In the long run, these regions would establish themselves as early supporters of the up-and-coming sectors. Australia has been seemingly trying to join the club of crypto-regulated nations for a while now. This year, especially, its steps towards drafting crypto-related rules has seen significant strides.
In September this year, for instance, Mulino reportedly invited public feedback on these draft crypto regulations.
At the time, he had said that Australia was looking a levying penalties of up to $10.8 million, thrice the profit churned, or 10 percent of the company turnover — whichever is highest — on rule breaking crypto firms.