Head of international policy at Chainalysis said that to add to regulations on advertising, consumer protection measures will be implemented.
Caroline Malcolm, the head of international policy at Chainalysis, anticipates that when Australia’s new regulations covering cryptocurrency advertising, marketing, and consumer protections are put into effect within the next year, they will be comparable to those in the UK.
“I think we’re more likely to see something along the lines of the UK model which is really focusing on a crackdown on misleading advertising or advertising which doesn’t present the risks alongside the opportunities.”
This required treating cryptocurrency products and services similarly to financial ones when it came to advertising and promotion, Malcolm said at the Chainalysis Links conference on June 21 in Sydney.
The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published new guidance in March that mandates advertisers to expressly mention the degree of risk associated with investing in cryptocurrency. Malcolm pointed out that Singapore adopted a different strategy by essentially outlawing all public marketing of cryptocurrencies to retail buyers.
“It’s not about banning advertising or banning the sale of particular assets to particular parts of the community, but really about making sure that there’s no misleading advertising, that there are disclosures about what you’re actually buying when you’re getting into the sector,” she said.
Malcolm stated that in addition to regulations on advertising, there will also be a number of consumer protection measures implemented. For example, it will be necessary for cryptocurrency exchanges to confirm during the onboarding process that all of their clients are aware of the risks associated with investing.
“When you’re onboarding to some sort of crypto exchange or platform, you need to answer a few questions about […] the level of risk in this space or the nature of specific risks.”
“It’s more this idea that there’s some sort of barrier to entry that you can’t just sort of jump on and start trading.”
Australia’s initial conference
The Australian blockchain data platform held its first-ever in-person conference on Tuesday at the Chainalysis Links event. There were about 100 attendees, including representatives from traditional business and governmental organizations as well as the cryptocurrency industry.
The Australian parliament has made clear statements about the necessity for regulation of the market for digital assets.
The eagerly anticipated proposals from the Senate Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre on how to regulate cryptocurrencies and digital assets were published in October 2021.
With the release of a consultation paper in March titled “Crypto Asset Secondary Service Providers: Licensing and Custody Requirements,” the conversation was furthered. This document asked for input on the minimum standards of behavior that crypto-asset service providers should adhere to as well as consumer protections.
Malcolm says she anticipates any modifications to Australia’s advertising, promotion, and consumer protection laws to take effect within the next six to twelve months, but added that this would also depend on how important a priority crypto regulation is to the newly elected Labor government, which took office in May.
“We’re three weeks into post-election. So we haven’t heard any news yet. But I would certainly expect to hear something before the end of the year in terms of where they see the timeline for this […] piece of legislation.
