Australia’s new administration, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese since May 23, would evaluate the management of cryptocurrency assets to keep procedures updated and protect customers.
According to Chalmers, Australians are experiencing a digital revolution in many economic sectors, but legislation is struggling to catch up and adapt to the crypto asset industry.
In the first stage, the Treasury will emphasise ‘token mapping’ work in 2022 to determine how to regulate crypto assets and related services. This has never been done anywhere else, so Australia will become a leader in this field.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, token mapping entails discovering the features of every digital asset token in Australia, including the sort of crypto asset, its underlying code, and any other identifying technological attribute.
Chalmers further said that the crypto industry is mainly unregulated and called for a shared effort to strike the proper balance to embrace new and creative technology while protecting consumers.
With the increasing prevalence of crypto assets – to the point where crypto marketing can be splashed all over major sporting events –it’s essential to ensure that customers dealing with crypto are sufficiently educated and protected.
Before the completion of token mapping, the government will release a regulatory framework consultation document.
Holger Arians, CEO of Banxa, an Australian fiat-to-crypto exchange, expressed concerns that the Web3 firms of tomorrow need the ability to develop, and legislation must adapt as the area evolves rapidly.
While the token mapping exercise is a step in the right direction, it’s important to see continued close collaboration with the industry to implement the proper regulatory frameworks.
The move seems to have become a political issue, as it occurred three months after the Albanese government beat Scott Morrison’s previous labour cabinet. The previous administration dabbled in crypto asset regulation but leapt quickly to options without first knowing what was being regulated.
The Albanian government is taking a stricter approach to determining what is in the ecosystem and which hazards must be examined first.
Chalmers explained that the objective would be to identify significant gaps in the regulatory framework, advance work on a licensing framework, review innovative organisational structures, examine custody obligations for third-party custodians of crypto assets, and provide additional consumer protections.
