This week saw confidential discussions concerning the RBA’s Treasury consultation paper on token mapping.
Representatives from the Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury met with leaders from the global crypto industry, including Tom Duff Gordon, Vice President of International Policy at Coinbase, to deliberate on the future of digital assets and regulatory frameworks in the country.
Gordon, traveling from London, was among those who provided feedback on the Treasury’s consultation paper on token mapping, released last month. Token mapping involves identifying the core activities and functions of crypto products and aligning them with existing regulatory frameworks.
“The Australian Treasury’s token mapping exercise is one of the most detailed and thoughtful papers we have seen on the topic, and it sets a strong foundation for their forthcoming draft rules for crypto exchanges and custodians, which we are keen to see later this year,” Gordon conveyed to cryptocurrency news outlet CoinDesk in an email. “It’s great the industry is able to engage in this open and transparent regulatory rule-making process.”
The Australian Treasury stated that it “maintains stakeholder relationships across all policy areas and meetings are a normal part of consultation”.
The RBA acknowledged that a meeting took place at the request of Coinbase.
“Some members of staff from the Payments Policy and Financial Stability departments met with Coinbase this week, as part of the Bank’s ongoing liaison with industry,” an RBA spokesperson stated via email.
As reported earlier by The Australian, Tom Duff Gordon, together with John O’Loghlen, Coinbase’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, met with various government and policy stakeholders in Australia.
“From a central bank perspective, they’re interested in financial stability and the links between a fiat traditional financial system and the crypto system,” Gordon told The Australian. “The Treasury in Australia is more interested and involved in setting the framework, and we believe the RBA will increasingly get more involved as we move forward.”
The Coinbase submission was focused on disclosure to ensure “that when consumers look at financial information, they’re not being misled and that people have the information that they need to make informed decisions,” Gordon said.
More noteworthy developments on the cryptocurrency industry front in Australia as the market heats up.
This follows news that according to internal documents obtained from the Australian Treasury Department, it could take at least a year before crypto legislation is put in place in the country.
