Australia's ASIC to implement broader regulation of the crypto sector under new guidance

PANews reported on October 29th that, as the Australian government prepares to introduce new digital asset legislation, financial regulator ASIC has significantly updated its guidance, expanding the scope of existing financial services law to crypto businesses. The revised version of Info Sheet 225, released on Tuesday, clarifies when digital asset products and services constitute financial products under the Corporations Act and expands the term "digital assets" from "crypto assets" to include virtual assets, tokenized products, and coin-based assets. While not enacting new laws, the guidance aims to provide certainty ahead of the implementation of the Treasury's Digital Asset Platform and Payment Service Providers Bill, which will introduce a licensing regime for exchanges, custodians, and stablecoin issuers. ASIC reiterated that yield tokens, staking schemes, and asset-linked stablecoins require licensing. The final version of the guidance adds five new cases, bringing the total to 18, covering scenarios ranging from exchange tokens and gaming NFTs to staking services. It also clarifies that custodians must meet a net asset threshold of A$10 million (unless providing ancillary services). ASIC emphasized that Australian law applies to offshore institutions marketing to local users, and that global platforms cannot use their geographic location to circumvent regulation.