One of the Committees of the Australian Senate has been making several proposals which are all aimed towards the need to have crypto regulations so that the regulators can be supervise unwatched crypto space for its betterment. The Senators are of the view that Australia need to go into head-to-head competition with other states in the field of digital assets otherwise they will be left behind.
It isn’t surprising at all that the rising demand of cryptocurrencies is attracting attention of worldwide governments. However, in most of the countries, they have already set up or in the process of setting up crypto regulations. But in the case of Australia, the government and the regulator both have failed to provide crypto oriented rules or even guidelines.
Though the Australian digital asset industry is huge, yet it is more or less out of the regulatory or supervisory structure. From the digital asset industry’s point of view lack of regulation is good because cryptocurrencies stem from the decentralized structure. However, from the perspective of the general public, it could be seriously dangerous and may cause significant monetary harm.
Being aware of the harm, a large number of Australian Senators are working towards introducing crypto regulations. Some of them have already presented several proposals while some proposals are still a work in progress. The lawmakers there want that they should come up with more crypto-specific rules rather than amending existing laws. The task at hand is therefore taken up by Senate Committee on Financials and Technology has prepared a report.
Through this report, the Senate Committee has detailed several recommendations which could be incorporated in the crypto law. These recommendations, in the majority, focus on the promotion of the digital asset industry, technology, and their innovation. According to Senate Committee, all these three factors are interlinked with the regulation of the digital industry. Any further delay in the regulations would result in ousting of Australia from competing with other states.
The first proposal given by the Senators was that the Government should immediately start licensing crypto businesses. Firms, where business of crypto or crypto-related activities are going on, should be asked to obtain operating licenses. This will help the state in identifying even if there is an element of fraud amongst the crypto businesses, argued Senators. Secondly, there must be a specific capital requirement which should be the threshold for everyone interested in the crypto business. Thirdly, each firm or crypto business must conduct its quarterly and annual audits. The report of these audits should be made public and given to the regulator for double-check and scrutiny.
Senators also pointed out that there are several crypto firms which have been obtaining licenses in other states. Most importantly, these firms are established by Australians or Australian-based companies. For instance, there have been two recent crypto firms established in UK and Singapore, whose owners are Australian-based, informed Senators. So there is genuine scarcity of crypto regulation in Australia, stressed Senators.
