ASIC | Crypto

Australia’s securities regulator has bundled digital assets with AI and payments in its 2026 outlook, warning that companies exploiting licensing gray areas will be a top priority this year. Australia's financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), framed new participants in emerging sectors like digital assets as a “regulatory perimeter” issue in its Key Issues Outlook 2026 paper, signaling how it intends to regulate crypto entities in the year ahead.  In the report published on Tuesday, ASIC grouped digital assets alongside payments and artificial intelligence-driven financial services, citing risks tied to unlicensed activity, misleading conduct and businesses operating at the edges of existing laws.  Instead of a warning about token adoption or crypto volatility, ASIC focused on structural risks created when emerging financial services fall outside established licensing, disclosure and conduct regimes.  Read more

ASIC has warned that Australia could lose ground as tokenization has advanced worldwide, citing onchain RWA expansion, bank pilots, and cross-border work with supervisors, and has urged proportionate reforms to support access, settlement, and investor safeguards. The post Australia Risks Being “Left Behind” as Tokenization Transforms Global Markets – ASIC appeared first on Cryptonews.

Australia’s financial regulator has granted licensing exemptions for intermediaries distributing AFS-licensed stablecoins, starting with AUDM. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has introduced licensing exemptions for intermediaries involved in the distribution of stablecoins issued by licensed entities. Under the newly published ASIC Corporations (Stablecoin Distribution Exemption) Instrument 2025/631, intermediaries distributing a stablecoin issued by an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee are no longer required to hold their own AFS, market or clearing and settlement facility licenses. “ASIC is committed to supporting responsible innovation in the rapidly evolving digital assets space, while ensuring important consumer protections are in place by having eligible stablecoins issued under an AFS licence,” the regulator said in a Thursday announcement. Read more

ASIC is expanding its fraud crackdown, moving from website takedowns to social media ads as crypto scams remain a key source of losses.