LABOR’S CRYPTO POLICY: DO NOTHING
Labor’s inaction on crypto is putting consumers at risk and holding back blockchain investment and innovation in Australia.
The Albanese Government promised fit-for-purpose crypto regulation in 2022… and again in 2023… and again in 2024, but now it has come clean that draft legislation won’t surface until at least 2025 and can be added to the long list of financial services reforms that have fallen by the wayside.
The Government’s latest announcement that ASIC is frontrunning comprehensive reform is a cop-out that leaves the digital assets sector waiting yet another year for regulatory certainty.
The Albanese Government has lost control, and ASIC is now playing policymaker.
The regulator is tired of waiting for the Government to act and is filling the void left by these inordinate delays by testing the “regulatory perimeter” via enforcement and litigation.
The regulatory stance taken by ASIC could risk stifling Australia’s home-grown digital assets businesses and the innovation that could drive Australia’s competitive advantage on the global stage.
The Australian digital assets sector has waited patiently for regulatory certainty, but the digital economy clearly isn’t a priority for the Albanese Government.
The Coalition supports a fit-for-purpose regulatory regime for digital assets and stablecoins — one that provides certainty, protects consumers, fosters innovation, and allows Australian businesses to compete on a global scale.
Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services Luke Howarth said Labor’s indifference on crypto regulation is leaving Australia’s digital assets sector in regulatory limbo.
“Australians are increasingly investing in crypto and deserve the protections afforded by fit-for-purpose regulation. This is not a priority for Albanese’s minister and it has been left too late, with no hope of it being legislated this term.
There are significant concerns that ASIC is now preemptively shaping the regulatory landscape for digital assets before a comprehensive legislative framework is established.
These operations are likely to move offshore if ASIC starts regulation by enforcement and litigation under existing laws which don’t fit neatly, changing its longstanding position.
This will create unnecessary compliance costs and an environment of regulatory uncertainty that is unwelcoming to both domestic innovators and international investors. Australian blockchain businesses with transformative potential will likely consolidate or leave.
The former Coalition government laid the foundations for this reform and championed the digital economy but unfortunately, the Albanese Government has abandoned the digital assets and payments sectors and blockchain innovation is withering under its watch.”