Despite reports in February suggesting that 2 million pro-crypto voters could decide the outcome of this week’s Australian Federal Election, crypto has barely rated a mention during the campaign.
“I think it’s a missed opportunity,” Independent Reserve founder Adrian Przelozny told Cointelegraph. “Neither side has made crypto a headline issue because they’re wary of polarizing voters or sounding too niche.”
But 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 “regulating digital asset platforms” and “payments system modernization” scheduled for release this quarter.
Amy-Rose Goodey, CEO of the Digital Economy Council of Australia, said that both parties “are equally invested in getting this draft legislation across the line.”
“Irrespective of who gets in, we’re in a better position than we were about a year ago.”
Pro-crypto voters have choices in the Senate, too, with the Libertarian Party issuing a 23-page Bitcoin policy in March — calling for the creation of a national Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve and the acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender.
The minor party is fielding five Senate candidates in different states, including former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, but doesn’t currently have anyone in the Senate.
The 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.
More than a decade of inaction on crypto
Australia’s first parliamentary inquiry into digital assets was held back in 2014, but there’s 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.
The former Liberal Government was considering the landmark Digital Services Act, based on the 2021 Senate Committee’s crypto recommendations, when it lost office in 2022. Despite ongoing consultations since, the ALP government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, hasn’t 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 “represent big opportunities for our economy.”
”We 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.”
His office said exposure draft legislation would be released “in 2025” for consultation, introduced into Parliament “once that feedback has been considered” with the subsequent reforms “phased in over time to minimize disruptions to existing businesses.”
The shadow assistant treasurer, Luke Howarth, said the ALP has been slow to act because it didn’t have a blockchain policy when it was elected.
“It wasn’t until the FTX collapse that they acknowledged the need for regulation,” he told Cointelegraph. “The 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.”
He’s referring to Treasury’s March statement “on developing an innovative Australian digital asset industry.” It provides for the licensing of Digital Asset Platforms (DAPS), a framework for payment stablecoins and a review of Australia’s Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox.
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While short on detail, those aims are broadly similar to the crypto regulation priorities that Howarth outlines to Cointelegraph — the big difference being that the opposition has committed to a faster time frame.
Przelozny praised the 100-day promise as “exactly the kind of urgency we need.”
If elected, the Liberal Party’s legislation is expected to take some of its cues from Senator Andrew Bragg’s private members bill in 2023 and some from the more recent work done by the Treasury.
The government steps up efforts
The Treasury has been quietly drafting legislation this year, which Goodey understands is “almost complete.”
“There’s been prioritization within Treasury, and I know that their team has almost doubled — the digital asset team — for writing that draft legislation. So, there has been an investment in that over the past six months.”
Przelozny characterizes the ALP’s approach as “cautious and…
cointelegraph.com