- New bill requires crypto exchanges and custody platforms to obtain Australian Financial Services Licenses under ASIC oversight.
- Framework exempts smaller operators processing under $6.5 million annually and provides an 18-month transitional period for compliance.
Australia Parliament is going ahead with a wide-ranging law that will make crypto exchanges and crypto custody services companies to get a financial license just like banks and other traditional financial institutions. The regulation bill was brought in by the assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, to cover the gaps in the regulation where companies are holding client cryptocurrencies indefinitely, and there is no supervision or protection against fraud.
New Licensing Requirements Target Platform Operators
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino brought the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 before the House of Representatives, setting out the conditions under which it would be compulsory for digital asset companies to have an Australian Financial Services License.
The new framework is designed to fill in the holes in the regulations that are currently existing where companies may keep client cryptocurrencies in an unlimited manner without any financial supervision or without any protective measures against possible misconduct and fraud.
By this act, two separate financial product classes are distinguished as requiring a license: platforms for digital assets and tokenized custody platforms, both being regulatory subjects of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Presently, the majority of crypto-related companies have simply registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, where around 400 exchanges are registered, but a large number of them are still inactive in terms of operations.
As per the reformed system, platforms are required to meet ASIC’s requirements for operations that involve the details of transactions, settlement procedures, as well as the protection of customer assets. At the same time, they are expected to provide the full disclosure documents that explain the services and risks.
The law stipulates that small operators who process less than 10 million Australian dollars annually are free from the requirement of obtaining a license. In addition to this, there are companies where digital asset-related activities are the auxiliary operations of the non-financial primary business.
Businesses are given a grace period of 18 months to get the appropriate licenses, which is meant to help companies that are trying to comply with regulations without being suddenly disrupted in their operations or receiving financial penalties.
Mulino pointed out that the law mainly targets the operators of the platform and not the blockchain technology that is underneath, thus the regulatory system can change with the continuous development of tokenization and digital services.
The proposal is preceded by the consultations held in September, during which the representatives of the industry broadly supported the initiative and, at the same time, asked for more clarity and easier compliance procedures from government officials and regulators.
Labor’s large majority in the House of Representatives indicates that the bill will be passed quickly in the House and then moved to the Senate for consideration.
According to the government, this regulation is crucial for bringing foreign capital to the country, generating new jobs, and making Australia’s financial system the global leader in innovation.
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Source: https://thenewscrypto.com/australia-advances-legislative-framework-to-regulate-digital-asset-platforms/
