An Australian Senate committee has handed down its report on the government’s proposed digital-asset regulatory framework, backing legislation that would bring crypto platforms and custody services under the country’s financial-services regime.
The Senate Economics Legislation Committee said the bill represents a step toward modernizing oversight of digital assets, an industry lawmakers say is expanding rapidly but remains unevenly regulated.
Under the framework, operators of digital-asset platforms and tokenized custody services would typically need to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence, comply with asset-safeguarding standards, and meet disclosure requirements when onboarding retail clients.
Lawmakers said the changes are intended to close regulatory gaps that currently allow businesses to hold large amounts of client digital assets without the safeguards required in traditional finance.
The legislation defines core concepts such as “digital tokens,” “digital asset platforms,” and “tokenized custody platforms,” aiming to bring intermediaries dealing with customer assets under existing financial-services law rather than regulating blockchain technology itself.
If enacted, the regime would include a six-month transition period for providers that do not already hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
Industry groups broadly welcomed the move toward regulatory clarity. Kate Cooper, CEO of OKX Australia, told Decrypt that clearer rules could help bolster economic gains.
“Legislative clarity could be the foundation for a significant increase in Australia’s productivity standards,” Cooper said, citing research from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre and the Digital Economy Council of Australia estimating digital-finance innovation could add up to $24 billion a year, or about 1% of GDP, to the economy.
She added that digital-asset platforms support stronger safeguards around how customer assets are held while enabling Australian businesses to access global blockchain technology within a regulated framework.
The bill will now proceed through the next stages of the parliamentary process as lawmakers consider final passage of Australia’s first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital-asset platforms.
