Big 4 bank ANZ has become the first Australian bank to mint an Australia dollar (AUD) pegged stablecoin named “A$DC.” But rival bank NAB also has its own stablecoin project which is expected to launch by the end of the year. ANZ is working with local regulators such as AUSTRAC and APRA to get the project signed off in a compliant manner, and has already run a test transaction on the Ethereum blockchain with its institutional partner Victor Smorgon Group, the family office tied to the billionaire Smorgon family. According to a March 24 report from the Australian Financial Review …

One of the world’s oldest living cultures is meeting the world’s newest emerging tech as Indigenous Australians begin to take part in the Metaverse. “First movers need to be there. Indigenous Australians have a culture about dreaming. So, we need to do it.” Professor Vanessa Lee-Ah Mat, a cultural broker focused on wellbeing through Australian Indigenous traditional culture, told Cointelegraph. Lee-Ah Mat and co-founder, cultural brokers, artist and lawyer Bibi Barba and lawyers Joni Pirovich and Angelina Gomez, publicly released a discussion paper this week entitled “First Nations Culture in the Metaverse.” The group is seeking support to set up …

Last week got off to an antsy start as the clause that many interpreted as a direct route to ban proof-of-work-(PoW)-based cryptocurrencies made a sudden comeback to the draft of the European Union’s key directive on digital assets. Many in the crypto policy space got immediate flashbacks to other instances of harmful last-minute additions to must-pass legislation days and hours before the vote. It all ended well, though, as the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted against the draft that contained the hostile language. Over in the United States, monetary policy kept growing more political, as evidenced by Sarah …

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gave the opening keynote at this year's Blockchain Week, with the events of day one held at the headquarters of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Addressing the event remotely from the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried used his keynote to announce the launch of FTX Australia, localizing one of the world's largest crypto exchanges by volume. FTX is the naming rights sponsor for the event. “This is something that has been in the works for a number of months, and it’s been a really high priority for us as a company.” Really excited to launch FTX: Australia!https://t.co/ZcBNEuyiG9https://t.co/jGumMSXMW3 https://t.co/rABSI5Y81O — …

Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg opened the Australia Blockchain Week conference with a bombshell legislative proposal that he hopes will lay the groundwork for a new Digital Asset ecosystem down under. The proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) legislative package calls for reforms in crypto market licensing, custody, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), debanking, and taxes. Senator Bragg said in his address at the conference that he expects the legislation in the Act to “protect (crypto) consumers against malicious operators.” Senator Bragg outlined the four main pillars that the DSA is guided by. He explained that the DSA would be technologically neutral, …

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) to the Federal Court, alleging that the firm and its Irish branch engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by publishing scam celebrity crypto ads. Some users have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sophisticated and long running scams tied to the ad. The spotlight on Meta has heated up in Australia since the start of February, with Cointelegraph previously reporting that the ACCC was investigating the firm over allegedly fraudulent crypto ads. Aussie mining billionaire Andrew Forrest also took legal action against the …

A young resident from Queensland, Australia played the long game of accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) over several years to eventually overcome the soaring real estate prices during the 2020 bull run and own his dream home. The 23-year-old Loi Nguyen started his journey as an investor back in 2017 by purchasing a few hundred dollars worth of BTC, ETH and traditional stocks. However, his interest in crypto reached new heights while pursuing an Economics degree: “Crypto came back into my life when I did a course at the uni on inflation. I learned that Bitcoin can be disinflationary.” …

Web2 lets big tech companies collect consumer data without paying the people behind the statistics. However, the advent of Web3 technologies may change the way data is collected and let consumers get compensation for the information they share, according to the founders of Chain Collective, a Web3 startup that enables consumers to monetize their data using blockchain. Skills acquired from working in business intelligence and machine learning coupled with a passion for Web3 technologies led Jenny Walker and Greta Menzies to create a data marketplace. With blockchain technology, the all-female team aims to help consumers monetize their data and inspire …

Australian NFT trading platform Immutable announced a $200 million Series C funding round led primarily by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek and with participation from Animoca Brands and Tencent. Additional investment from ParaFi Capital, Princeville Capital and Arrington Capital as well as from existing backers King River Capital, Prosus Ventures, AirTree Ventures, Declaration Partners and others have raised Immutable’s valuation to $2.5 billion. The company intends to put this capital toward developing its Immutable X layer-2 scaling solution for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum network and scaling Immutable Gaming Studio, which includes its flagship Gods Unchained and Guild of …

Even though female investors are increasingly interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, there is still a significant knowledge gap when it comes to these topics, a new study reveals. BlockFi noted that a third-party survey panel conducted the study on Jan. 28, 2022, and included 1,031 female-identifying Americans between the ages of 18 and 65. According to a recent study by BlockFi focused on the shifting attitudes toward cryptocurrency, 92% of the women surveyed have heard about crypto, with almost one in four (24%) already owning some. In contrast, 80% still find it difficult to understand, and 72% believe investing …

Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee, the Australian cybersecurity advisor, highlights various crypto-related opportunities for the government to undertake as it prepares for the global mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies. The study released by Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, titled ‘Exploring Cryptocurrencies’, cites the rise in crypto adoption as the country undergoes a rapid transformation to an advanced digital economy: “There is a need for regulatory settings that provide greater clarity and confidence about how the cryptocurrency market can operate in Australia.” The Federal advisory recommends exploration of four key areas that can “help ensure the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia” — …

Brisbane-based crypto exchange Swyftx has penned a major three-year sponsorship deal with the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). Swyftx is registered in Australia and New Zealand and offers trading services for around 300 digital assets. The firm was founded in 2018 and the NRL deal marks another major milestone for promoting the local crypto and blockchain sector to sports fans, with the Australian Football League women’s competition already signing with Crypto.Com for $25 million over five years. The latest deal will cover NRL, Women’s NRL (NRLW), State of Origin and All-Star games. There is also an option for a fourth-year …