The first federal budget under the Anthony Albanese led-government has outlined that Bitcoin (BTC) will continue to be treated as a digital asset, and not taxed like a foreign currency. This clarification comes in response to El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as legal tender in September last year, with the Australian government essentially ruling out a shift in classification despite it being used as a currency in El Salvador and the Central African Republic. The federal budget was released on Oct. 25, and states that BTC will fall under the “current tax treatment of digital currencies, including the capital gains …

Nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials want to see crypto become a part of their 401(k) retirement plans, according to an October survey from United States asset manager Charles Schwab. Asking participants what they would like to see added to their 401(k) retirement products, the firm found that 46% of Gen Z and 45% of Millennials said they "wish" they could invest in cryptocurrencies as part of their retirement planning. It shouldn't come as a surprise, as the survey also found that 43% of Gen Z and 47% of Millennials are investing in cryptocurrencies outside their 401(k) already, which …

Australia’s federal law enforcement agency has highlighted the criminal use of cryptocurrency as an “emerging threat” in the country but says it’s a continuous challenge to keep up the pace with criminals. A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) told Cointelegraph that there has been an “increase in the number of offenders using cryptocurrencies to facilitate illicit business and attempting to conceal the ownership of assets,” noting: “The criminal use of cryptocurrency is an emerging threat for law enforcement.” However, they admitted the biggest challenge for law enforcement is to “continually evolve” their “tools, techniques and legal frameworks” to …

Australia’s chief financial market regulator has placed interim stop orders on three cryptocurrency-related funds set to be offered to retail investors, due to non-compliant target market determinations (TMDs). In a media release dated Oct. 17 local time, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it has placed interim stop orders on three of Australian asset manager Holon's crypto funds — which separately aim to invest in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and FileCoin (FIL). A target market determination is a document that describes who a product is appropriate for, based on likely needs, objectives, and financial situation as well as …

The Melbourne couple mistakenly sent 10.5 million Australian dollars by Crypto.com in 2021 is arguing in court that they thought the funds were won via a competition. Thevamanogari Manivel and her husband Jatinder Singh are currently facing a trial in the Victoria Supreme Court over theft charges, among others after the duo allegedly went on a spending spree with Crypto.com’s funds last year. Appearing via video link in Melbourne magistrates court on Oct. 11, Manivel and Singh pleaded not guilty to their respective charges, with defense being that Singh had thought he had won a contest from Crypto.com, and had …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will expand its services in Australia, launching a local entity and an updated suite of services for retail crypto traders, hinting that institutional products are soon to follow. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Nana Murugesan, Coinbase’s VP of international and business development, said building during bear markets has “paid off big time during the bull run” and he’s confident in what he sees in the local market. The “baseline signals” Murugesan explains such as the local awareness of crypto and people who view it as the future of finance are “kind of on par or even better” …

Making it to the list of countries that intend to launch an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a white paper outlining an elaborate plan for conducting a pilot project for eAUD. On Aug. 9, 2022, the RBA announced a collaboration with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) to explore CBDC use cases for Australia. The joint research resulted in the launch of a project to test a general-purpose pilot CBDC. As outlined in the ‘Australian CBDC Pilot for Digital Finance Innovation’ white paper: “The key objectives of the project are to …

Australian crypto entrepreneur and investor Fred Schebesta has described the Australian government's prioritization of token mapping as “wonderful,” but warns that rushing it could lead to detrimental effects on the economy. Schebesta's comments come after Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers released a statement on Aug. 22 stating that the “treasury will prioritize token mapping work" in 2022 to show how “crypto assets and related services should be regulated.” Speaking to Cointelegraph, Schebesta believes Australia already has a “fledgling” crypto industry but needs to “align with the other major markets and their regulations.” Schebesta added that the "intricacies” of token mapping are …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) may be the biggest driver of crypto adoption in Central, Southern Asia, and Oceania (CSAO), a new report has found. According to a Sept. 21, Chainalysis post titled “Crypto Adoption Steadies in South Asia, Soars in the Southeast,” NFT-related actions accounted for 58% of all web traffic going to cryptocurrency services from this region in the second quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, another 21% of traffic in the quarter went to websites of play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain games, with majortitles including Axie Infinity, STEPN and Battle Infinity. Chainalysis noted that P2E blockchain games are “intimately related” to NFTs, as …

Australian-based crypto platform Marhaba DeFi says there has been a strong take-up of Halal-approved cryptocurrency products on its platform, with aims to release a suite of new products which align with Islamic law by the end of 2022. Launched in 2020, the platform is focused on adhering to the rules of “Islamic finance” which refers to how businesses and individuals raise capital in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Marhaba DeFi founder and CEO Naquib Mohammed said active users of their non-custodial multichain “Sahal Wallet” have grown to around 40,000 since its launch, stating: “People need a …

Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has released a new draft bill aimed at clamping down on digital asset exchanges, stablecoins, and China’s central bank digital currency, the e-Yuan. In a statement on Sept. 18, Senator Bragg stated that “Australia must keep pace with the global race for regulation on digital assets” as “it is essential that the parliament drives law reform” on the matter. The new draft bill, titled Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2022, calls for the introduction of licenses for digital asset exchanges, digital asset custody services, stablecoin issuers, as well as disclosure requirements for facilitators of the …

The sponsorship of high-profile sports and teams may be key to legitimizing the crypto industry to the general masses, according to Luke Ryan, Head of Content at Australian crypto exchange CoinJar. In May 2021, the exchange became the first crypto company in Australia to sponsor an Australian Football League (AFL) club by partnering with the Melbourne Demons. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Australian Crypto Convention on Sept. 18, Ryan remarked the AFL partnership changed the discussion around cryptocurrency in the country and that “it gives cryptocurrency a bigger sense of permanence.” “Perhaps prior to this real punch into the sporting …