The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, or APRA, published a letter to regulated entities Thursday setting out risk management expectations and a policy roadmap for the regulation of crypto-assets through 2025. “While activities associated with crypto assets are still relatively limited in Australia, the potential scale and risks of such activities could become significant over time,” chairman Wayne Byres said in the letter. The letter instructed the regulated entities undertaking activities with crypto assets to engage with their supervisory agencies, and it outlined risk management measures and standards specific to a variety of cases. The foreseen regulatory framework encompassed banking exposure …

Australian financial compliance enforcement agency AUSTRAC has released two new guides to help entities spot when customers are using crypto for illicit means or when they are being forced to pay the creators of ransomware. But, it warned that debanking customers merely on suspicion of such activity was a harmful practice with serious negative effects. In an announcement posted earlier today, AUSTRAC noted that the growing acceptance, value and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology has been accompanied by an increase in cybercrime. “Cyber-enabled crime is an increasing threat to Australians. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), 500 …

Financial regulators have greenlit Australia’s first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) to begin trading on April 27, and the Australian Financial Review reports it could see up to $1 billion in inflows. An ETF is a regulated exchange-traded fund that allows investors to benefit from the price of Bitcoin without needing to own any coins themselves directly. Cosmos Asset Management beat out local contenders VanEck, BetaShares and EFT Securities to issue Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF. Each firm has been in the running to close out regulatory approvals since at least March, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Cosmos Asset …

Nonfungible token (NFT) investment giant Animoca Brands has acquired a significant stake in the Australian digital marketing agency Be Media. Be Media has locations in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney and has provided Web2 firms with advertising and digital strategy since 2013. While the company isn’t geared toward the crypto sector, the investment seems to be a part of Animoca’s immediate aim to “shepherd companies into Web3.” According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Be Media will be tasked with seeking out partnerships with top Australian Brands relating to Animoca’s various blockchain-focused initiatives such as NFTs and launching an “open Metaverse.” …

Lawmakers in Australia want to regulate decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). In this three-part series, Oleksii Konashevych discusses the risks of stifling the emerging phenomenon of DAOs and possible solutions. Crypto anarchy is unlikely to be the future that the majority of people support. Company regulation, in its essence, has a lot of positive aspects or at least, a good intention, albeit one often embodied in a red tape that stifles business. Nevertheless, nowadays, corporation rules and regulations are formalized to the extent that they could be put in the machine code. So, the role of the government is to establish …

Lawmakers in Australia want to regulate decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). In this three-part series, Oleksii Konashevych discusses the risks of stifling the emerging phenomenon of DAOs and possible solutions. Regulating a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) as a company, first of all, means registration as a company. But who remembers why we need that registry in the first place? Will anyone question whether a blockchain-based DAO needs registration at all? Historically, the government took the role of that trusted third party that, through its public agency — i.e., a registry office — keeps records about a company: who is in charge, …

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s (RMIT) Blockchain Innovation Hub has released a report proposing the implementation of pilot Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), to assist specific precincts in Melbourne’s CBD in recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. The report, which is part of a five-piece series of reports funded by the Victorian Government, details how blockchain technology — specifically DAOs — can be used to help cities like Melbourne recover from a lack of economic activity during the pandemic and to survive into the future with the likely persistence of hybrid working arrangements. Created in consultation with the City …

Financial regulators are standing in the way of expanded crypto services on Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) mobile app. In an Australian first, the bank aims to grant all of its 6.5 million users access to cryptocurrency services. The CBA’s crypto products started a pilot of the services late last year after which it hoped to open up to all of the users of its app, however it now appears to be moving toward a second pilot. The Australia Financial Review (AFR) reported on April 6 that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has tied up the launch with …

The crypto market is maturing and is no longer driven by speculation, according to a new report from BTC Markets (BTCM). According to the report by the Australian cryptocurrency exchange, the crypto market's growth in 2021 was driven by utility. The BTCM Investor Study Report 2021 is an in-depth analysis of data from the BTCM exchange for the year 2021, divided by demographics (age, gender, investor type) to anonymously examine and analyze cryptocurrency investment habits among its 325,000 customers. As per the report, "crypto queens" or rather female investors on the platform have grown at a faster rate than their …

Convenience store and gas station giant On The Run (OTR) will soon accept crypto payments at its 170 outlets across South Australia and Victoria. The move will allow customers to pay for gas, snacks, and even a Subway foot long in over 30 cryptocurrencies. OTR’s parent company the Peregrine Corporation, one of the largest privately-owned companies in South Australia, will also be accepting crypto at its Subway, Oporto, and Smokemart stores. Once the system is finalized in July, it will become the largest business in the country to accept in-store crypto payments. The company is working with Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com …

New warnings from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on appropriate conduct for financial influencers could have a dramatic impact on the local crypto industry. ASIC’s recent Information Sheet outlines the traps influencers and the companies that hire them could fall into while wittingly or unwittingly promoting financial products. The penalties for failing to heed ASIC’s warnings could lead to millions of dollars in fines for corporations and up to five years in prison for individuals. Although it does not specifically mention crypto influencers, the guidelines certainly apply to them as cryptocurrency investing services are seen as financial products. …

Lawmakers in Australia want to regulate decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). In this three-part series, Oleksii Konashevych discusses the risks of stifling the emerging phenomenon of DAOs and possible solutions. On March 21, 2022, during Blockchain Week Australia, Australian Senator Andrew Bragg made a few interesting statements, one of which was about the intention of lawmakers to introduce regulations for decentralized autonomous organizations. Per se, it is not new, as the Australian Senate Committee led by Senator Bragg recommended in October 2021 that decentralized autonomous organizations be brought under the fold of the Corporations Act, which provides standards for corporate governance …