Australia’s Labor Government will look to become the first nation to “token map” the cryptocurrency digital assets sector as the government seeks to provide to improve System for Cryptocurrency.
In a statement yesterday, the Australian treasury and its treasurer, Jim Chalmers, announced a multi-multi-step plan to establish a cryptocurrency and digital assets regulatory framework that it claims will be more thorough and better-informed than those previously established “anywhere else in the world.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the review was about allowing “consumers to participate in the market while also better protecting them”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a “token mapping” exercise, which was one of the 12 recommendations in a senate inquiry report last year on “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center.” The report was warmly welcomed by the industry which has been anxiously waiting to see if the ALP government would embrace it.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
According to the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) 28.8 percent of Aussie investors now hold some form of cryptocurrency in their portfolio, having increased dramatically from 18.4 per cent in 2020.The proportion of Aussie women who own cryptocurrency has also doubled, rising from 10.1 per cent in 2020 to 20 per cent in 2021, and yet, “regulation is struggling to keep pace and adapt with the crypto asset sector.”
In December 2021, Chalmers’ predecessor, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, pledged to take crypto “out of the shadows” by creating a comprehensive cryptocurrency and digital assets regulatory framework. In May, however, Frydenberg and the rest of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government were ousted in a federal election.
“The Albanese Government is taking a more serious approach to working out what is in the ecosystem and what risks need to be looked at first.”
According to today’s statement, the Albanese government’s token mapping project will “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.”
According to the Treasury Ministry, a public consultation paper further fleshing out the token mapping process will be released soon.
A timeline for when the Albanese government plans to turn its findings from that exercise into legislation, however, remains unclear.
Very important steps once again for cryptocurrency regulation not only in Australia, but globally.
