Blockchain Australia, a key trade group representing the local cryptocurrency industry, has officially presented the federal government with its crypto regulatory suggestions.
Last Friday, the group submitted a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, urging the government to create a safe harbour for local crypto service providers.
Blockchain Australia emphasized the need for a coordinated and graded strategy to implement a “fit-for-purpose regulatory framework,” enabling innovation and competition in the country while improving consumer outcomes, in a set of regulatory recommendations.
Local industry “cannot afford to wait years for regulatory clarity,” and local consumers require confidence to access regulated crypto services in the nation, according to crypto supporters.
“The government and relevant regulators should provide crypto asset providers a safe harbour until such a time that they introduce guidance or legislation. Any legislation should contain an appropriate transition period and not apply retrospectively.”
As part of the recommendations, Blockchain Australia suggested forming a cross-sector regulatory working group to improve communication between the crypto industry and financial authorities.
“The group’s initial exercise should be a token mapping exercise, analyzing the work done in other jurisdictions,” according to the association.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the Australian Taxation Office are among the Australian authorities with which the organization has worked.
Blockchain Australia specifically requested that ASIC alter RG133, the local custodial service rule, to explicitly specify that licensed custody providers can provide crypto asset custodial services.
The news comes after several local financial players stated their concerns about Australia’s bitcoin business. The Australia Securities Exchange warned about the security dangers of crypto custody on centralized crypto exchanges in a testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Financial Regulatory Technology in mid-July.