Originally published December 13, 2023, updated May 29, 2026.
Summary
- Australia has been broadly receptive toward the crypto sector, as evidenced by the authorities’ attitude, and the relatively large numbers of its citizens who hold crypto investments.
- Australia has an increasingly robust regulatory framework in place, and is pursuing wide-ranging use cases to create an environment that will allow crypto to thrive while also ensuring user safety and protection.
- Growing legislation may help Australia capture a larger share of digital assets, which could generate as much as A$24 billion annually.
How is crypto used in Australia?
It is legal to trade, receive, spend and store cryptocurrencies in Australia, and crypto exchanges were legalized in 2017. Cryptocurrencies are an accepted means of payment, though there is no obligation for merchants to accept them.
Australia ranks 38th globally for crypto adoption. Research reveals that more than one million Australians own crypto (out of a population of approximately 28 million), and after share ownership, the most common asset held are cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies are most popular with the under 35s (10% of this age group hold cryptocurrencies), and approximately two-thirds of investors are men. Older Australians (over-50s) typically hold larger investments, averaging $56,200, while at the other end of the scale, the average crypto investment holding for 18-24 year-olds is approximately $2,600.
What has been the government’s reaction to crypto?
Historically, the government has taken a relatively gentle approach to crypto asset regulation. Turbulence in the crypto sector and a rise in crypto scams in the country – it is asserted that one in three of the dollars that Australians lose in scams has some link with crypto – created a change of approach.
In 2025, the authorities amended the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) legislation to include the crypto and blockchain sector, with the changes coming into effect in March 2026. The move followed AUSTRAC’s “Money Laundering in Australia National Risk Assessment 2024” report, which identified digital currencies and their exchanges as an AML risk.
As a result, the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024 amended earlier legislation passed in 2006, bringing in additional designated services from the virtual assets sector.
The services were aligned with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements, broadening Australia’s previous AML/CTF regime, which had only regulated exchanges between virtual assets and fiat currencies. The amended act extended this to four additional services:
- exchanges between one or more other forms of virtual assets,
- transfers of virtual assets on behalf of a customer,
- safekeeping or administration of virtual assets, and
- participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a virtual asset.
Defining a virtual asset
The amended legislation also provided a definition of a virtual asset as:
A digital representation of value that can be transferred, stored or traded electronically, and functions as any of the following:
- a medium of exchange
- a store of economic value
- a unit of account
- an investment.
Comprehensive legislation introduced
On 1 April 2026, the country passed its first comprehensive digital asset regulation, the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. This amended the financial services law (Corporations Act 2001, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001). Not only did the move regulate digital asset platforms and cryptocurrency exchanges, but also sought to strengthen consumer protection and market integrity.
The key provision was that exchanges became required to obtain Australian financial services licenses.
Notably, the legislation doesn’t provide a definition for “digital asset” but defines digital tokens, digital asset platforms (DAPs) and tokenized custody platforms (TCPs). As two new categories, these are now regarded as “financial products”, bringing them under the same rules that apply to brokers and fund managers.
According to the authorities: “The Bill aims to close regulatory gaps, improve consumer protection, and ensure businesses holding digital assets meet standards like those in the broader financial system.”
The situation also positions Australia to potentially capture a larger share of digital assets. The Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center has estimated that the country could generate as much as A$24 billion annually from tokenized markets.
CBDC and digital money developments
The Reserve Bank of Australia (central bank) has been researching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) since 2021. It regards it as a potential complementary form of money, and in 2023 ran a pilot to examine possible use cases for a CBDC.
In 2024, the RBA and Treasury released a joint report into their findings, in which they concluded that at the current time, there is no strong case for a retail CBDC on the basis that the existing payment system works well and meets needs.
Research has, however, continued. The RBA has pursued Project Acacia, a joint initiative with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). This project emerged from a report released in March 2025 on the need to develop an innovative digital asset industry.
Through Project Acacia the authorities are exploring how different forms of digital money can support wholesale tokenized asset markets.
Use cases in Australia’s crypto space
The Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) is a 10-year, $180 million research program. It receives funding from the government, universities and industry partners. It has a mission to develop the opportunities arising from the digitization of assets, and as part of its work, it is conducting 16 use cases.
It has four research streams, which consider:
- Dynamic registers for instant exchange – this looks at ways to digitize the registry to help transform financial markets.
- Advanced securitization – this seeks to make things into instantly tradable digitized assets.
- Distributed trading – this explores ways to develop next generation technology and finance analytics to support customized marketplaces.
- RegTech with algorithmic real-time enforcement – this is helping to build the rules and regulations required as part of the transfer.
As part of its use case development, in May 2023, the country made its first foreign exchange transaction using an Australian digital dollar – eAUD – in a trade for a US dollar stablecoin, as part of a pilot into the potential for a central bank digital currency. This was part of explorations into the use of a digital dollar in tokenized FX settlements.
The other use cases are investigating the following areas: offline payments; nature-based asset trading; SuperStream payments; corporate bond settlements; GST automation; CBDC custodial models; livestock auction; high-quality liquid assets securities trading; interoperable CBDC for trusted Web3 commerce; funds custody; construction payments; tokenized bills; and CNDC distribution.
Timeline of key legislation
2017
Cryptocurrencies were legalized.
2018
Crypto legislation incorporated AML and CTF measures, and the Financing Act 2006 was updated to include digital currencies in these two regimes.
Under regulation set by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), crypto assets are part of exchange-traded products (ETPs) and other investment products. As investments, cryptocurrencies are therefore subject to capital gains tax (CGT).
2019
Senator Andrew Bragg was appointed as a member of the Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology. The committee was tasked with investigating the opportunities and challenges facing fintech.
2021
In September, the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology issued a report into regulating crypto assets (known as the Bragg Report), offering 12 recommendations. Among these was a review of the viability of a retail central bank digital currency.
The RBA conducted a proof of concept for a wholesale CBDC using Ethereum to tokenize syndicated loans.
2022
In August, the government announced it would be initiating consultations with the industry, investors and other stakeholders to begin the process of drafting a regulatory framework for the sector.
The same month, the RBA announced it was launching a one-year project to examine the potential economic benefits of a CBDC.
In September, a white paper was published inviting industry to submit proposals for CBDC use cases.
In December, the government announced plans aimed at improving industry safety. It revealed that it was looking to create a framework that would license and regulate crypto service providers in 2023. This has yet to take place.
2023
In February, the government through the treasury began a token mapping exercise, to help explain how various crypto assets could fit into existing regulatory frameworks.
In March, opposition senator and crypto sector support, Andrew Bragg, introduced the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill, a Private Senator’s Bill, at the center of which was the introduction of robust disclosure norms for banks. This would be designed to help them handle the introduction of China’s digital yuan in Australia. The proposed legislation also sought to implement licensing systems for crypto exchanges, custody services and stablecoin issuers.
Also in March, the country’s taxation office implemented a data-matching program, with the express purpose of monitoring crypto transactions to ensure compliance with taxation laws.
Between March and July, the RBA ran a CBDC pilot.
In September, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee rejected the Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill. Reportedly reflecting the current government’s views, the committee called for greater consultation with the crypto sector before implementing further digital assets regulation. In addition, the committee suggested that the proposed bill was inconsistent with international frameworks, creating possible concerns about possible discrepancies.
A month later, the Treasury released for consultation its long-awaited regulatory framework for crypto regulation – Regulating digital asset platforms. The highlights included:
- Extending the Australian Financial Services (AFS) license (the country’s umbrella regime for financial products and services) to crypto service providers. This would treat them the same as fund managers and securities brokers, and define crypto as a financial product.
- Custody of customer assets as a ‘regulatory anchor’ – the paper defines a new type of financial product, the ‘digital asset facility’, which would include all entities that hold customer assets. This becomes a digital asset platform when coupled with services like trading. In a move designed to mitigate harm from risky activity and align with the international community, digital asset platforms holding more than A$5 million in customer assets would require an AFS license.
- Similar risk, similar activity, same outcome. The proposal doesn’t use the word ‘same’, but rather ‘similar’, and includes crypto-specific requirements to mitigate risks that are unique to crypto. It adds obligations related to trading, staking, tokenization and fundraising activities.
2024
In September, the Treasury and RBA released a report of their research into a CBDC.
2025
In March, the government released a Statement on Developing an Innovative Australian Digital Asset Industry.
2026
In April, parliament passed the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025.
Outlook
The market has matured considerably in recent years, and the historically relaxed attitude towards the crypto and blockchain sector has tightened. Regulation and oversight have increased. Earlier attempts by pro-crypto political figures to fast-track regulation have been sidelined by a strong, clear line from the authorities, bringing clarity to the sector’s oversight.
There is little to suggest this will change. There has been a distinct shift from crypto being viewed as something speculative and retail to institutional financing. The authorities are increasingly interested in how the sector could contribute to economic growth. Analysis reveals that Australian crypto entities processed approximately A$71 billion in on-chain transactions between March 2025 and February 2026. At the same time, in terms of crypto value received, Australia ranks 20th globally as adoption rates rise.
