Australian Senate committee criticizes bill to regulate crypto assets

The Australian Senate Committee on Economic Legislation criticized a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies previously introduced by Senator Andrew Bragg.

The committee opposed the Digital Assets Act 2023 proposed in March by Senator Andrew Bragg. The bill aims to protect consumers and contains regulatory recommendations regarding stablecoins, licensing of crypto exchanges, and digital asset custody requirements.

The committee called on the Australian Senate not to approve this initiative, but to study in more detail the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the country. The committee advised the authors of the initiative to exclude certain “gold and silver standard” tokens, as well as the BetaCarbon token, from the concept of “stablecoin”. In addition, legislators demanded that consideration of the bill be extended from three to nine months.

However, Bragg tried to convince the Senate to pass the bill with minor amendments. The politician proposed excluding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from the definition of regulated digital assets. Senators Bragg and Dean Smith also considered it necessary for tax authorities to review the tax regime for digital assets. This would “pave the way” for legislation on cryptocurrencies, which could be regulated as early as early 2024.

Last year, Bragg called the digital yuan a threat to Australia's financial system, which he said was another reason to speed up regulation of stablecoins in the country.