{"id":128407,"date":"2025-05-01T22:25:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T22:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128407"},"modified":"2025-05-01T22:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T22:25:27","slug":"australian-election-will-bring-pro-crypto-laws-either-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128407","title":{"rendered":"Australian election will bring pro-crypto laws either way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsDespite reports in February suggesting that 2 million pro-crypto voters could decide the outcome of this week\u2019s Australian Federal Election, crypto has barely rated a mention during the campaign.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s a missed opportunity,\u201d Independent Reserve founder Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph. \u201cNeither side has made crypto a headline issue because they\u2019re wary of polarizing voters or sounding too niche.\u201d
\nBut the good news is that after more than a decade of inaction, both the ruling Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the opposition Liberal Party are promising to enact crypto regulations developed in consultation with the industry. In April, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor promised to release draft crypto regulations within the first 100 days after taking office, while the Treasury itself has draft bills on \u201cregulating digital asset platforms\u201d and \u201cpayments system modernization\u201d scheduled for release this quarter.
\nAmy-Rose Goodey, CEO of the Digital Economy Council of Australia, said that both parties \u201care equally invested in getting this draft legislation across the line.\u201d
\n\u201cIrrespective of who gets in, we\u2019re in a better position than we were about a year ago.\u201d
\nPro-crypto voters have choices in the Senate, too, with the Libertarian Party issuing a 23-page Bitcoin policy in March \u2014 calling for the creation of a national Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve and the acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender.
\nThe minor party is fielding five Senate candidates in different states, including former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, but doesn\u2019t currently have anyone in the Senate.\u00a0
\nThe progressive left-wing Greens party has not outlined a position on crypto, while the conservative right-wing One Nation party has campaigned against debanking and CBDCs.
\nThe Libertarian Party\u2019s Bitcoin Policy Whitepaper. Source: The LibertariansMore than a decade of inaction on crypto
\nAustralia\u2019s first parliamentary inquiry into digital assets was held back in 2014, but there\u2019s been more than a decade of regulatory inaction since. The industry says this has led to stagnation and a brain drain of talent to jurisdictions like Singapore and the UAE.
\nThe former Liberal Government was considering the landmark Digital Services Act, based on the 2021 Senate Committee\u2019s crypto recommendations, when it lost office in 2022. Despite ongoing consultations since, the ALP government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, hasn\u2019t put forward any legislation to parliament.But there has definitely been a vibe shift from the ALP recently, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers telling Cointelegraph that digital assets \u201crepresent big opportunities for our economy.\u201d
\n\u201dWe want to seize these opportunities and encourage innovation at the same time as making sure Australians can use and invest in digital assets safely and securely with appropriate regulation.\u201d
\nHis office said exposure draft legislation would be released \u201cin 2025\u201d for consultation, introduced into Parliament \u201conce that feedback has been considered\u201d with the subsequent reforms \u201cphased in over time to minimize disruptions to existing businesses.\u201dThe shadow assistant treasurer, Luke Howarth, said the ALP has been slow to act because it didn\u2019t have a blockchain policy when it was elected.
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until the FTX collapse that they acknowledged the need for regulation,\u201d he told Cointelegraph. \u201cThe Albanese government initially promised it would put in place regulation by 2023 but have failed to draft legislation or give a clear time-frame for action. After three years, all that was offered to industry was a six-page placeholder document.\u201d
\nHe\u2019s referring to Treasury\u2019s March statement \u201con developing an innovative Australian digital asset industry.\u201d It provides for the licensing of Digital Asset Platforms (DAPS), a framework for payment stablecoins and a review of Australia\u2019s Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox.
\nRelated: A guide to crypto trading bots: Analyzing strategies and performance
\nWhile short on detail, those aims are broadly similar to the crypto regulation priorities that Howarth outlines to Cointelegraph \u2014 the big difference being that the opposition has committed to a faster time frame.\u00a0
\nPrzelozny praised the 100-day promise as \u201cexactly the kind of urgency we need.\u201dIf elected, the Liberal Party\u2019s legislation is expected to take some of its cues from Senator Andrew Bragg\u2019s private members bill in 2023 and some from the more recent work done by the Treasury.
\nShadow Assistant Treasurer Luke Howarth. Source: Luke HowarthThe government steps up efforts
\nThe Treasury has been quietly drafting legislation this year, which Goodey understands is \u201calmost complete.\u201d
\n\u201cThere\u2019s been prioritization within Treasury, and I know that their team has almost doubled \u2014 the digital asset team \u2014 for writing that draft legislation. So, there has been an investment in that over the past six months.\u201d
\nPrzelozny characterizes the ALP\u2019s approach as \u201ccautious and methodical, but it\u2019s been slow,\u201d prioritizing consumer protection and risk management. BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler said the election of a pro-crypto Trump administration and the UK\u2019s draft regulations (released this week) likely forced both sides of politics to finally get serious. \u201dAustralia has ground to make up, and I would anticipate this also being a factor in the savvy move by both parties,\u201d she said.\u00a0
\nSydney is the 10th most crypto-friendly city according to a recent poll.Stand With Crypto campaign and ASIC
\nThe Stand With Crypto campaign is active in Australia but has been fairly low-key during the campaign, with a focus on debanking.Coinbase managing director for APAC John O\u2019Loghlen called on whoever wins the election to launch a \u201cCrypto-Asset Taskforce (CATF) within the first 100 days.\u201d This would include industry and consumer representatives to finally get crypto regulations over the line.
\n\u201cIf Australia doesn\u2019t move now, we risk falling even further behind,\u201d he told Cointelegraph.
\n\u201cThe next government must move beyond consultation and into legislation.\u201d
\nThe Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is the local equivalent of the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). It released its own crypto regulatory proposals in December.\u00a0
\nRelated: Trump\u2019s first 100 days \u2018worst in history\u2019 despite crypto promises
\nJoy Lam, Binance\u2019s head of global regulatory and APAC legal, told Cointelegraph she doesn\u2019t expect ASIC to suddenly change direction if a new government comes in, as the SEC did.
\n\u201cASIC doesn\u2019t make the law,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t expect a complete kind of 180 because ASIC, it is independent, and it does have its own mandate, but it obviously operates within the legislative framework that the government is going to be setting.\u201d
\nApril 20 poll. Source: YouGovWho should single-issue crypto voters back?
\nIn February, a poll by YouGov and Swyftx found that 59% of crypto users would vote for a pro-crypto candidate in the federal election above all other issues. That equates to around 2 million Australians and would be enough to determine the outcome of the election one way.
\nBut the similarities between the major parties on crypto regulation are much greater than the differences. Goodey said both sides of politics have genuinely engaged with the industry about its concerns and priorities.
\n\u201cYou can see in some of the language with their media releases that they both released in March, April this year, that they are in agreement on what the industry issues are,\u201d she said. Owing to Senator Bragg\u2019s campaigning on crypto, the industry sees the Liberal Party as more enthusiastic about digital assets, but after three years in government, the ALP looks to have arrived at roughly the same place. Recent YouGov and Resolve polls suggest the government is likely to be reelected.While internal Liberal polling suggests an ALP minority government is a genuine possibility, the major parties would have enough votes between them to pass bipartisan crypto legislation. Whatever happens, 2025 looks like the year Australia will finally provide the crypto industry with the certainty it needs.
\n\u201cFor industry, the timing is really quite critical now because obviously it\u2019s something that has been discussed and kicked around for quite a few years,\u201d Lam said.\u00a0
\n\u201cI would say that we are cautiously optimistic.\u201d
\nMagazine: ZK-proofs are bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin \u2014 BitcoinOS and StarknetRead More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsDespite reports in February suggesting that 2 million pro-crypto voters could decide the outcome of this week\u2019s Australian Federal Election, crypto has barely rated a mention during the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128407"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}