Australia's parliament has introduced stricter regulations for the digital asset industry with the passage of the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025.
The bill requires cryptocurrency exchanges and custody providers to obtain an Australian financial services license (AFSL) from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the country's financial regulator. This move aims to bring digital asset platforms into Australia's existing financial regulatory framework, strengthening consumer protection, market integrity, and regulatory clarity.
The bill also includes provisions for the application of laws when digital tokens are effectively controlled through multi-party computation (MPC). In an explanatory memorandum annex, the government clarified that the law applies only to platforms that actually hold customers' cryptocurrency, not those providing technology that helps control it.