Australia on Wednesday passed legislation creating its first comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework, requiring crypto exchanges and custodian providers to obtain financial services licenses.
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 passed both houses on April 1, bringing firms that hold digital assets on behalf of clients into the existing Australian Financial Services License regime.
Australia’s bill creates two new regulated categories under the Corporations Act: digital asset platforms, which hold crypto on behalf of users, and tokenized custodian platforms, which hold real-world assets and issue a corresponding digital token.
Operators of both must obtain an Australian Financial Services License from ASIC, which brings them under the same core rules as brokers or fund managers, including requirements to protect client assets, provide standardized information, avoid misleading behavior and maintain dispute resolution and compensation systems.
Instead of regulating crypto itself, the law targets the companies in the middle that control customer funds, with the aim of reducing risks such as commingling, insolvency and misappropriation of assets that have caused losses in past crypto failures.
Research by the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center and industry groups estimates Australia could generate as much as A$24 billion annually from tokenized markets, payments and digital assets, about 1% of GDP. Under the previous legislative path, the country was on track to capture just A$1 billion of that by 2030.
A Kraken spokesman said the law sends a “top-down signal” that Australia is serious about digital assets, adding that clearer rules would give businesses the confidence to invest and expand locally.
Kate Cooper, chief executive of OKX Australia and co-chair of the Digital Economy Council of Australia, called the bill an “important moment” and said it establishes a foundation for institutional participation and long-term capital allocation.
