Australia | Crypto

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

South Korean fintech unicorn Toss plans to launch a finance superapp in Australia this year and issue a Korean won stablecoin once regulations allow. South Korean fintech unicorn Toss plans to launch a finance superapp in Australia this year, its first overseas expansion, while also preparing to issue a Korean won-based stablecoin once regulations allow. According to a Tuesday Reuters report, Toss CEO Lee Seung-gun said that the firm plans to launch its superapp in Australia this year and expand to other markets too. “We proved in Korea that a startup can compete head-on with entrenched players,” he told the outlet. “A similar model can work globally, especially in countries where users juggle multiple bank accounts or fintech apps. We want to bring them into one seamless experience.” The CEO said that Toss has attracted more than 30 million users in South Korea since it launched in 2015. Australia is just the first overseas push for the company, where the firm hopes to leverage a fragmented banking system an...

Coinbase and OKX are moving into Australia’s pensions through SMSFs, while the United States revamps rules on how crypto fits into retirement plans. Two of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and OKX, are introducing services for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs ) in Australia, giving individuals new ways to add cryptocurrency to the country’s retirement savings system. While Australians have been able to hold digital assets in SMSFs for several years, Coinbase and OKX are now packaging that access into dedicated products, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Instead of leaving investors to set up their own structures and manage custody independently, the exchanges offer services that combine referrals to accountants and law firms with integrated custody and record-keeping to meet audit requirements. Read more

Webull's entry into Australia is expected to pressure local crypto platforms to slash trading costs, experts told Decrypt.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said the regulator has now beefed up its scam enforcement to include monitoring social media ads. Australia’s markets regulator is set to expand its crackdown on online scams after taking down 14,000 online scams since July 2023, with over 3,000 purporting to involve crypto.  The online scams include investment scams, phishing websites and are found in online advertisements. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in a statement that ASIC’s investment scam enforcement efforts will now be expanded to include social media ads. Worldwide losses from crypto hacks, scams, and exploits hit $2.47 billion in the first half of 2025, representing a nearly 3% increase compared to the $2.4 billion stolen in 2024. Read more

Australia’s Block Earner has launched a Bitcoin-backed mortgage as a new path into the property market, following a regulatory win that cleared the way for crypto-backed lending. As home prices in Australia continue to outpace incomes, a company is rolling out a Bitcoin-backed mortgage, offering crypto holders a new way to access the property market without selling their assets. On Wednesday, Block Earner launched the country’s first Bitcoin-backed home loan after fighting with regulators in court for over two years. The product was made possible by an April Federal Court ruling that found that Block Earner’s crypto lending products did not qualify as “financial products” under the Corporations Act. The decision cleared the company from needing a financial services license in order to offer Bitcoin as collateral in home loans. Read more

Westpac Institutional Bank has partnered with Chainlink and Australia's RBA to launch Project Acacia, a blockchain-based tokenized asset settlement project that could save AU$12 billion annually. The post Westpac and Australia’s RBA Launch Chainlink-Based Tokenized Asset Settlement Project appeared first on Cryptonews.

Tasmania has become the latest Australian state to intensify efforts against crypto ATM scams after top users lost AUD 2.5 million to fraudsters. The post Australia’s Tasmania Joins Nationwide Crackdown on Crypto ATMs as Scam Losses Hit $1.6 Million appeared first on Cryptonews.

Australia has approved 24 tokenized asset use cases under Project Acacia, enabling real-money trials across major banks and fintechs.

Australia now taxes crypto as property, with capital gains on swaps, DeFi and wrapped tokens, plus new ATO data sweeps targeting 1.2 million users. Australia is one of the world’s most crypto-aware nations, with over 31% of citizens owning digital assets and nearly 1,800 crypto ATMs across the country. Crypto is currently taxed as property in Australia, triggering capital gains tax (CGT) on disposal and income tax on mining, staking or payments. A May 2025 court ruling may challenge the status quo, suggesting that Bitcoin could be classified as “Australian currency,” potentially exempting it from CGT. Read more

Visa and Chainlink have completed a key milestone in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) e-HKD+ Pilot Programme, successfully testing a cross-border blockchain transaction using central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stablecoins. The trial, conducted in partnership with ANZ, ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International, is one of the first real-world simulations of programmable money being used […] The post Visa, Chainlink successfully complete CBDC, stablecoin swap between Hong Kong, Australia appeared first on CryptoSlate.