The Australian government has successfully approved six out of nine crypto proposals that an Australian Senate Committee brought forward in September 2021.
The crypto reforms are part of the preparations for the rollout of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and are said to be the biggest shake-up of the Australian payment system since the 1990s.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the government approved six out of nine innovative reforms proposed by the Senate Committee, including a licensing regime for crypto exchanges, laws to govern decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and a basic access regime for payment reforms.
The Australian government pushed back two proposals relating to tax and financial compliance to their respective bodies for consideration while dismissing another crypto proposal about renewable energy and 10% Bitcoin mining tax discounts.
MD @ChloeWhiteAus quoted in the AFR on crypto regulation. The article includes a helpful summary table of the Government's response to recent crypto proposals, signalling the path forward on regulation in Australia 🇦🇺 See more: https://t.co/q9ZLuf4r4b pic.twitter.com/ZxmiwoDdjQ
— Genesis Block Advisory (@GenesisBlockAus) December 7, 2021
While speaking at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) about the newly approved six innovative crypto proposals on December 7, Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer of the Senate Committee and deputy leader of the Liberal Party, said:
“What is clear is that if we embrace these developments, Australia has an enormous opportunity to capitalize on the convergence between finance and technology.”
During his AICC speech, Frydenberg bullishly applauded the approved crypto-asset reforms, asserting:
“For businesses, these reforms will address the ambiguity that can exist about the regulatory and tax treatment of crypto assets and new payment methods. In doing so, it will drive even more consumer interest, facilitate even more new entrants and enable even more innovation to take place.”
“For consumers, these changes will establish a regulatory framework to underpin their growing use of crypto assets and clarify the treatment of new payment methods.”
These crypto reforms have already attracted massive attention from many people within the crypto community, with Michael Harris, head of corporate at local exchange Swyftx, raising his uproar about the 10% tax discount for Bitcoin (BTC) miners’ proposal dismissed, arguing:
“We think this was a political consideration. The reality is that it’s probably going to be difficult for any government to segregate out an industry like BTC mining from other energy consumers, however laudable the intention.”
Nonetheless, Harris outlined that the noises coming from the government at the moment are somewhat promising, asserting that the government appears now much aware of the need to introduce a consumer protection policy framework without interrupting innovations:
“The devil will be in the detail, though, and we are especially keen to avoid a system that reduces customer choice by stacking the decks in favor of big, traditional financial players.”
In his turn, crypto-friendly senator Andrew Bragg, who primarily pushed recent crypto proposal, said that the recent fintech reforms would put “Australia on the global tech map”:
“Australia will be a world-leading crypto hub under the Treasurer’s plan. Australian consumers will also benefit from new consumer protection rules.”
“The world is watching Australia, which is now setting the global standard for crypto, payments, and digital wallet reform.”
While summarizing the comment section, Caroline Bowler, the CEO of local crypto exchange BTC markets, described the crypto reforms as a “major step forward to upgrade Australia’s one-size-fits-all regulatory framework in real-time”:
“It’s great to see that the gaps in Australian regulation relating to digital financial products and the exchanges, who support them are being finally addressed at the highest level of authority, and the Coalition Government is not shying away from the big issues surrounding crypto, payments, and de-banking.”
Meanwhile, in matters relating CBDCs, an anonymous source within the government hinted to The Australian on December 7 that:
“A retail scale RBA [Reserve Bank of Australia]-backed Bitcoin or cryptocurrency is currently underway.”
