Senator Andrew Bragg has introduced a bill proposing regulatory standards for the cryptocurrency industry in Australia.
The Australian Parliament has received a new bill that proposes rules for the country's cryptocurrency providers.
To "protect consumers and promote investors," Senator Andrew Bragg submitted a private senators' measure named Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023 that includes regulatory suggestions for stablecoins, licensing of exchanges, and custody requirements.
Australian ministers typically propose suggested regulatory reforms. But, as the Parliamentary Education Office specifies, lawmakers can present laws sponsored by private senators or members of Congress, which could take months or years to get through parliament.
In its further information for the private bill's submission, Bragg criticised the current Labor government for failing to implement the 12 recommendations for cryptocurrency regulation made by the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technological and Financial Centre in October 2021.
The senator also added that Australian consumers had been left exposed to industry-wide events like the collapse of FTX by the inaction of the Australian government to provide regulatory clarity to the sector.
“Australia can be a digital asset hub whilst protecting digital asset consumers. But we must act now.”
In order to protect investors and encourage consumer spending, the act proposes to provide a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency exchanges, custody services, and stablecoin issuers.
It also aims to offer instructions for approved deposit-taking institutions to follow when reporting data on the creation and administration of a central bank's digital currency.
Related: Australia introduces a classification for crypto assets
If the bill is approved, anyone or any organization wishing to run a cryptocurrency exchange would need to possess either an Australian Securities and Investments Commission license or a foreign license. This would also apply to Australian stablecoin issuers and cryptocurrency custody services.
Additionally, the bill specifies the number of obligations and demands for exchanges, custody services, and stablecoin issuers. They can include minimum capital or reserve requirements, client money segregation, reporting on holdings, audits, assurance, and disclosure agreements, among other things.
Australia is presently engaged in a public consultation process about the classification of cryptocurrencies and different digital asset tokens, services, and platforms. The "token mapping" consultation paper, which outlines fundamental definitions for the cryptocurrency industry, was published in February.
(GARETH JENKINSON, Cointelegraph, 2023)