Australia’s ASIC to implement broader regulation of crypto space based on latest guidance

PANews reported on October 29 that as the Australian government is about to introduce new legislation on digital assets, the financial regulator ASIC has made a major update to its guidelines to expand the scope of application of existing financial services laws to crypto companies. The revised version of Info Sheet 225 released on Tuesday clarifies under what circumstances digital asset products and services constitute financial products under the Companies Act, and expands the term from "crypto assets" to "digital assets" covering virtual assets, tokenized products and coin-based assets. While no new law is enacted, the guidance is intended to provide certainty ahead of the implementation of the Treasury Department’s Digital Asset Platforms and Payment Service Providers Act, which will introduce a licensing regime for exchanges, custodians and stablecoin issuers. ASIC reiterated that income tokens, pledge plans and asset-linked stablecoins need to be licensed to operate. The final version of the guide adds 5 cases to 18, covering scenarios such as exchange tokens, game NFTs and staking services, and clarifies that custodians need to meet the AUD 10 million net asset threshold (unless it is an incidental service). ASIC emphasized that Australian law applies to offshore institutions marketing to local users, and global platforms must not avoid supervision by geographical location.
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