Australia is legislating its way out of a gap. For years the only crypto-specific obligations were AUSTRAC registration for digital currency exchanges (since 2018) and ASIC's position, set out in Information Sheet 225 and litigated in a string of cases, that many crypto products are financial products requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence. The Treasury's March 2025 statement committed to a platform-based model, and in September 2025 the government released draft legislation creating two new financial products, the digital asset platform and the tokenized custody platform, requiring operators holding client assets above thresholds to obtain an AFSL and meet custody, disclosure, and conduct standards, with payment stablecoins regulated as a stored-value facility class.
Pending passage, courts keep drawing the perimeter: ASIC has won and lost cases on yield products and token schemes, and its updated INFO 225 guidance maps existing law onto exchange tokens, stablecoins, and staking. The AML/CTF reform package passed in 2024 also extends obligations for the sector from 2026 as tranche-two reforms commence.
The instruments
Digital asset platforms and payment stablecoins draft legislation
Creates 'digital asset platform' and 'tokenised custody platform' as financial products under the Corporations Act: AFSL licensing for operators holding client crypto above thresholds, minimum custody and settlement standards, and disclosure obligations, with payment stablecoins treated as stored-value facilities. Introduction to Parliament has been the government's stated next step.
AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration
Exchanges converting between digital and fiat currency must enrol and register with AUSTRAC, run AML/CTF programs, and report suspicious matters and threshold transactions; 2024 reform legislation broadens covered services from 2026.
ASIC Information Sheet 225 and enforcement practice
ASIC's map of when tokens, staking, yield products, and platforms constitute financial products under existing law, refined by Federal Court decisions in cases against yield and token-scheme providers.