Jim Chalmers, the Treasurer of Australia, promised that his country’s administration of crypto assets will be improved and that customers would be better protected.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), which has been in office for three months, has finally spoken out about its plans for crypto legislation.
A “token mapping” effort was one of the 12 recommendations in a senate inquiry report from last year on “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center,” which Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed. The industry, which was eager to see if the ALP administration would accept the report, warmly welcomed it.
The token mapping initiative, which is planned to be finished before the year is through, aims to “identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated” and guide future regulatory choices.
A licensing framework for crypto asset service providers dealing in non-financial product crypto assets, suitable requirements to safeguard consumer crypto asset custody, and a review of the DAO company-style structure are all tasks that Treasury will take on in the near future.
The government headed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it wants to rein in a “largely unregulated” crypto sector in a statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh:
“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.”
More than a million taxpayers have connected with the crypto ecosystem since 2018, but “regulation is struggling to keep pace and adapt with the crypto asset sector,” according to the statement.
According to the MPs, the previous administration, which was led by the Liberals, had “dabbled” in regulating crypto assets through crypto secondary service providers “without first understanding what was being regulated:”
“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.”