Australia moves to fold crypto platforms into financial licensing regime

The Australian government has introduced the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 to parliament, aiming to integrate crypto service providers into the existing financial services licensing regime. This legislation mandates that digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms must hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). The goal is to subject digital assets to the same general legal frameworks as traditional assets, ensuring consumer protection and conduct standards similar to traditional financial services. Licensed platforms will face obligations such as acting "efficiently, honestly and fairly," providing clear asset storage disclosures, and maintaining robust governance. However, smaller operators holding under A$5,000 per customer and facilitating less than A$10 million in annual transactions will be exempt. This move significantly tightens oversight, as current law only requires crypto exchanges to adhere to anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules. The framework covers both crypto assets like Bitcoin and tokenized real-world assets, with the Treasury noting potential productivity gains of up to A$24 billion from digital finance.

(Source：The Block)