Bill to regulate crypto sector introduced to Australian parliament by Coalition Senator Andrew Bragg
Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, and has been a beneficiary of the high-profile collapse of FTX, an exchange founded and run by US citizen Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX shook markets with a dramatic collapse last year, after losing more than $US8 billion ($12 billion) in customer deposits in risky trades and venture capital investments.
The lawsuit against Binance came just days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sent Nasdaq-listed Coinbase a notice outlining its plans to launch enforcement action against the exchange for potentially violating securities laws through its “staking” products.
Coinbase, which listed on the Nasdaq in April 2021, said it was confident of its legal position and “welcomes a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for”, but also noted the frequency with which US-based regulators have targeted the crypto industry over the past 12 months.
While all eyes are on the US, Senator Bragg said Australia’s crypto regulation has stalled and the government’s “token mapping” consultation program, which will outline the utility and application for various digital assets, is too slow.
Earlier in March, a cache of documents released under Freedom of Information laws showed Treasury’s timetable for consulting Australian crypto companies and designing new legislation stretches into 2024.
“The government’s taking forever, and we just want to get things moving,” Senator Bragg said, adding that the bill might be referred to the Senate Economics Committee this week.
The Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023 aims to install three licensing permits around exchanges, custody and whether they can issue stablecoins, a kind of digital asset backed fully by other assets like the Australian dollar.
Senator Bragg says the bill provides for minimum capital requirements, appropriate governance procedures, segregation of customers funds and security requirements.