Australia passes crypto regulation requiring exchanges to obtain financial services licenses
Exchanges and custody platforms must obtain financial services licenses within six months under the new framework.
What to know:
- Australia has passed its first comprehensive digital-asset law, requiring crypto exchanges and custody providers to obtain Australian Financial Services Licenses.
- The legislation creates two new regulated categories—digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms—bringing them under the same core rules that apply to brokers and fund managers.
- Policymakers aim to reduce risks such as commingling and misuse of customer assets while positioning Australia to capture a larger share of an estimated A$24 billion annual digital finance opportunity.
Australia passed legislation on Wednesday, creating its first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets that requires crypto exchanges and custody providers to obtain financial services licenses.
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 cleared both houses on April 1, bringing firms that hold digital assets on behalf of customers into the existing Australian Financial Services Licence regime.
Australia’s bill creates two new regulated categories under the Corporations Act: digital asset platforms, which hold crypto on behalf of users, and tokenized custody platforms, which hold real-world assets and issue a corresponding digital token.
Operators of both must obtain an Australian Financial Services License from ASIC, bringing them under the same core rules as brokers or fund managers, including requirements to safeguard client assets, provide standardized disclosures, avoid misleading conduct, and maintain dispute resolution and compensation systems.
Instead of regulating crypto itself, the law targets the companies in the middle that control customer funds, aiming to reduce risks like commingling, insolvency, and misuse of assets that have caused losses in past crypto failures.
