It appears that Australian authorities are not rushing to launch crypto regulations.
A recent report by The Australian Financial Review has revealed that the Australian government is still dragging its feet regarding crypto regulation.
Based on the report, despite the massive financial losses resulting from collapsed crypto projects, the government had not fast-tracked new legislation to protect Australians in the crypto industry.
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The revelations were made after the Australian Financial Review obtained documents under a Freedom of Information petition. These documents show that the Australian Treasury is still deliberating on regulating the crypto sector, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3.
It is worth noting that on February 3rd, the Treasury Department launched a consultation dubbed "crypto mapping exercise." Despite that, it appears that Australia’s Treasury consultations with crypto companies will stretch out into next year.
On the bright side, it was revealed that the Treasury has established a “crypto policy unit.”
One of the documents obtained by the Australian Financial Review revealed that the Treasury was aware of the frustrations arising from the delayed implementation of a comprehensive crypto law. According to a 2022 briefing from Dr. Chalmers:
Treasury expects some stakeholders to be disappointed with the perceived delay in implementing a licensing regime. For example, consumer groups seeking immediate protections and businesses seeking regulatory legitimacy.
Rather than seeing the delay as a bad thing, Treasury believes the bear market has effectively bought the government more time. It would allow them to get clarity on how crypto and the “new licensing framework would operate in practice.”
A recent survey revealed that crypto ownership could reach as high as 20% of the population by the end of 2024, or around 5 million citizens.
At the beginning of March, the Reserve Bank of Australia revealed plans to launch a "live pilot" to test real-world use cases for its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
