Australian ‘token mapping’ consultation paper to release in early 2023: Treasurer

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Aus­tralian Trea­sur­er Jim Chalmers has revealed that the gov­ern­ment will release a con­sul­ta­tion paper in ear­ly 2023 as part of its token map­ping initiative. 

The cryp­to sec­tor has received greater atten­tion from Aus­tralian reg­u­la­to­ry and enforce­ment agen­cies since the FTX implo­sion, with the gov­ern­ment empha­siz­ing the impor­tance of pro­vid­ing greater con­sumer pro­tec­tion laws as soon as possible. 

In a Dec. 14 state­ment, Trea­sur­er Chalmers not­ed that the Antho­ny Albanese-led gov­ern­ment is “tak­ing action to improve the reg­u­la­tion of cryp­to ser­vice providers and ensure addi­tion­al safe­guards for Australians.”

As part of that process, Chalmers revealed the con­sul­ta­tion paper will cov­er how cer­tain cryp­to assets should be reg­u­lat­ed along­side frame­works for com­pa­ny licens­ing, asset cus­tody and con­sumer pro­tec­tions under its pre­vi­ous­ly announced token map­ping exercise. 

“The next steps in the Government’s ongo­ing ‘token map­ping’ work will include the release of a con­sul­ta­tion paper in ear­ly 2023 to inform what dig­i­tal assets should be reg­u­lat­ed by finan­cial ser­vices laws, and the devel­op­ment of appro­pri­ate cus­tody and licens­ing set­tings to safe­guard consumers.”

“Fol­low­ing the release of token map­ping, the Gov­ern­ment will con­sult on a cus­tody and licens­ing frame­work next year before intro­duc­ing leg­is­la­tion,” he added. 

The lat­est com­ments from Chalmers adds to a promise from the Trea­sury in mid-Novem­ber that it will devel­op and enact a robust reg­u­la­to­ry frame­work for cryp­to in 2023. 

The focus on cryp­to is also part of a push to “mod­ern­ize Australia’s finan­cial sys­tem” with the gov­ern­ment set reform reg­u­la­tions on finan­cial mar­ket infra­struc­ture — par­tic­u­lar­ly in rela­tion to the Aus­tralian Secu­ri­ties Exchange’s (ASX’s) clear­ing sys­tem, pay­ments sys­tems and the Buy Now Pay Lat­er sector. 

Relat­ed: A loop­hole allowed FTX to secure its Aussie license with­out full checks: ASIC’s Longo

Australia’s gov­ern­ment has been large­ly pro-cryp­to but has reit­er­at­ed the impor­tance of allow­ing for inno­va­tion while keep­ing the pub­lic safe.

On Dec. 8, the Reserve Bank of Aus­tralia (RBA) pub­lished a sta­ble­coin-focused report which sug­gest­ed the reg­u­la­tors are “under­tak­ing sig­nif­i­cant work” to fig­ure out how to safe­ly inte­grate them into the ecosystem. 

“Sta­ble­coins have the poten­tial to enhance the effi­cien­cy and func­tion­al­i­ty of a range of pay­ment and oth­er finan­cial ser­vices,” the report read. 

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