Australia's Senate Committee Clears Crypto Licensing Bill

An Australian Senate committee has endorsed the country's proposed crypto regulatory framework, clearing the way for the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 to advance through parliament, according to Decrypt. The Senate Economics Legislation Committee backed the legislation on Sunday, calling it a necessary step toward modernizing oversight of a sector that has outgrown existing rules.

The bill, introduced to parliament on 26 November 2025, amends the Corporations Act 2001 and the ASIC Act 2001 to define core concepts of "digital token," "digital asset platform," and "tokenised custody platform," and establishes licensing, disclosure, and conduct obligations for issuers and operators of these platforms. In practice, it would require digital asset wallet providers and exchange operators who hold clients' tokens custodially to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence and comply with new asset-holding and transactional standards, with breaches attracting civil penalties.

The driving rationale is consumer protection. Regulators identified a gap in existing law where intermediaries could hold billions of dollars in client digital assets without the safeguards required in traditional finance — creating conditions for frozen withdrawals, insolvency proceedings, commingling with provider funds, and undisclosed proprietary trading. The collapses of FTX and Celsius, which left thousands of Australians with limited legal recourse, have loomed large in the debate.

Operators that do not already hold an Australian Financial Services Licence will have a six-month transition period after the bill receives Royal Assent to come into compliance. Smaller platforms and businesses using digital assets for non-financial purposes are carved out via targeted exemptions.

Industry reaction has been broadly positive. OKX Australia CEO Kate Cooper told Decrypt that legislative clarity could serve as the foundation for meaningful economic gains, citing research estimating that digital-finance innovation could add up to $24 billion annually — roughly 1% of GDP — to the Australian economy.

The committee endorsement moves the bill into the final stages of the parliamentary process. If passed, the preferred regulatory approach is projected to carry annual compliance costs of approximately $28.4 million for regulated businesses — a figure regulators say is outweighed by the benefits of attracting institutional capital and supporting the development of up to 1,000 new startups per year.

The bill's advance also has direct implications for offshore crypto firms with Australian ambitions. Ripple, for instance, is currently in the process of acquiring BC Payments specifically to secure an Australian Financial Services Licence as it builds out its Asia-Pacific payments footprint — a strategy that would put it ahead of the compliance curve if the legislation is enacted.