The Albanese Government will improve the way Australia’s regulatory system manages crypto assets, to keep up with developments and provide greater protections for consumers.
Australians are experiencing a digital revolution across all sectors of the economy, but regulation is struggling to keep pace and adapt with the crypto asset sector.
The Australian Taxation Office estimates that more than one million taxpayers have interacted with the crypto asset ecosystem since 2018.
As it stands, the crypto sector is largely unregulated, and we need to do some work to get the balance right so we can embrace new and innovative technologies while safeguarding consumers.
Our Government is ready to start consultation with stakeholders on a framework for industry and regulators, which allows consumers to participate in the market while also better protecting them.
As the first step in a reform agenda, Treasury will prioritise ‘token mapping’ work in 2022, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated. This hasn’t been done anywhere else in the world, so it will make Australia leaders in this work.
With the increasingly widespread proliferation of crypto assets – to the extent that crypto advertisements can be seen plastered all over big sporting events – we need to make sure customers engaging with crypto are adequately informed and protected.
The previous government dabbled in crypto asset regulation but prematurely jumped straight to options without first understanding what was being regulated. The Albanese Government is taking a more serious approach to work out what is in the ecosystem and what risks need to be looked at first.
The aim will be to identify notable gaps in the regulatory framework, progress work on a licensing framework, review innovative organisational structures, look at custody obligations for third party custodians of crypto assets and provide additional consumer safeguards.
A public consultation paper on ‘token mapping’ will be released soon.
