Australia will establish a regulatory framework for crypto exchanges and also evaluate launching a retail central bank digital currency. The central bank’s digital currency will be a component of the country’s biggest overhaul of its payment industry.

The country will also broaden its payments regulations to cover online transaction providers such as Alphabet Inc and Apple Inc’s Go including

buy now pay later (BNPL) providers such as Afterpay Ltd, halting their processes without direct.

Josh Frydenberg, the central bank’s treasurer asserted that if supervision of the country does reform the present framework, the future of the country’s payment system will be determined by Silicon Valley. He affirmed that the sovereignty of the country’s payment system must be maintained by the Australian government.

To this end, the Australian government has positioned itself at the forefront of global actions to deter big tech firms from criminalizing cryptocurrency. However, the Australian government is taking a more comprehensive strategy as regards crypto than countries like China and India.

The use of non-cash payments and cryptocurrency erupted in Australia during the pandemic as people spent more time online searching for investments opportunities. According to the data provided by the Australian government, about 55 million non-cash transactions are processed in Australia every day. In fact, a larger percentage of these transactions are carried out via mobile devices to sanction payment. It was also reported that the number of Australians transacting various digital coins increased by 63% this year alone.

Frydenberg confirmed that the Australian government would commence consultation in early 2022. The consultation would focus on how to create a licensing framework for digital exchanges to enable client’s buy and sell digital assets in a legislated setting.

The government would further review and discuss the legislation of firms that hold various digital assets on behalf of clients. The feasibility of a central bank digital currency would also be looked into for better services.

Jack Dorsey, a spokesman for Afterpay, who has an agreement to buy out Square Inc, declared his support to regulate crypto. He said that he is in support of any procedure that will properly evaluate the advantages of any innovation to competition and consumers.

As regards the new stance the Australian government took concerning crypto assets, Apple refused to make any comment while Google I playing it safe with no immediate comment yet.

The managing director of the Consumer Action Law Center, Gerard Brody, mentioned that crypto exchange regularisation would acknowledge that these exchanges now hold a considerable amount of investors’ funds and money. He further went on to say that regulation of these changes would help address the risks of financial stress and debt linked with crypto assets.

Global movements

The former federal government cryptocurrency adviser, Chloe White, affirmed that the move by the Australian government is timely and quite sensible. Chloe White is also the CEO of Genesis Block, a consultancy firm that offers guidance on asset legislation, policymaking, and digital technology within the industry. White added to her claim that participants in the industry will be glad to participate and work through the details.

Australia’s approach towards crypto regulation and legislation corresponds with the ideologies of U.S regulators. U.S regulators have asserted that they want to develop a regulatory framework that will enable banks to make it easier for clients to own various digital assets.

However, in England, legislators have asked for more sovereignty to monitor the online promotion of digital assets. This is to ensure they are well capable to fight the pool of inappropriate content.

At the end of the spectrum, India is taking a strict approach towards crypto regulation such as China. The proposed law would allow for the arrest of Individuals using crypto as a form of payment or store of value without a warrant.

Conclusion

We strongly believe that there’s a need to regulate the crypto market as this will help protect individuals against frauds and crypto scams. However, strict regulation also shouldn’t be the case as it limits the citizens from tapping into the opportunities that present themselves in the crypto market via bitvestment

This is why we support the investor-oriented approach of the Australian Government. That is, while the Australian government plans on regulating the market to protect the investors, they also seek to provide a safer and better crypto ecosystem for investors