Australia needs to regulate cryptocurrency market
Australia will need regulatory oversight of the domestic digital assets market amid a renewed surge in demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and follow the examples of the US, Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong which have successfully regulated their digital financial products.
Digital assets exchange, BTC Markets, believed there were significant gaps in Australian regulation in this regard and although the technology and ideology underlining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was difficult for traditional markets to accept, large financial institutions were developing a mature understanding of its fundamentals.
BTC Markets’ chief executive, Caroline Bowler, said digital finance was growing rapidly and that our country needed to keep apace of the change, with legislation tailored to technological advances, and, as a nation, Australia was setting international standards for blockchain use.
“But we need to use this clear advantage to get on the front foot to prepare our economy for what is to come,” she said.
“Australia needs to prepare for the future of finance. We believe prioritising digital financial legislation will have a significant longer-term impact across our entire economy.”
According to Bowler, other jurisdictions were successfully pulling ahead in regulating their cryptocurrency markets, which helped to drive local company founders to list their companies overseas.
Digital trade in Australia is estimated to be worth $192 billion in the domestic economy by 2030, while digital goods and services were fourth largest export sector, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Recommended for you
Sharing his reasoning in joining the FSC board, WT Financial chief executive, Keith Cullen, believes “product and advice cannot be separated” from each other in the current environment.
The Emerge Foundation, a charity run by financial advisers and fund managers, has announced a scholarship program to help veterans transition into tertiary education.
In an open letter, Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole has hit out against shareholders “with a personal axe to grind” as he fights for his job ahead of an EGM.
The JAWG has announced it is in talks with Treasury around five “core principles” to strengthen the education standards for new entrants to the financial advice space.
