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Australia is tightening its control over the cryptocurrency sector with a new law that would make it necessary for every digital asset trading platform to get a financial services license. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, which was introduced in parliament on November 26, 2025, aims to put crypto exchanges, custodians, and tokenized asset providers under the same rules as traditional financial services. The goal is to protect consumers while encouraging innovation in a market that has grown to $10 billion in annual trading volume.
The law passed its first reading and is now moving on to the second discussion. It came after a public consultation in September that got feedback from more than 200 parties, including exchanges like Independent Reserve and Swyftx. If passed, it will require platforms that deal with crypto trading, storage, or tokenization to have Australian Financial Services Licenses (AFSL), just like stocks, bonds, and derivatives. Daniel Mulino, the Assistant Treasurer, said that the decision was necessary to protect millions of Australians who deal with digital assets every year: “This keeps things safe while encouraging new ideas. We’re building trust without stopping growth.”
The Push for AFSL Compliance
The measure says that crypto operators would have to follow the same rules for honesty, fairness, and efficiency as regular financial institutions. Platforms must be honest about how they store assets, have strong governance and risk controls in place, and not operate in ways that are misleading. Users would have to have ways to settle disputes and get paid back, just like they do with banks or superannuation.
Smaller players have a break: Operators who have less than AU$5,000 per customer and conduct less than AU$10 million in transactions each year are eligible for exemptions, much like low-risk financial products are. Exchanges currently only have to follow anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) standards. The new rules add operational integrity, consumer protections, and bankruptcy protections to the list.
The framework covers a wide range of topics: From trading Bitcoin and stablecoins to tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) including bonds, property deeds, and commodities. The Digital Finance CRC says that tokenization may save Australia AU$24 billion a year in efficiency improvements. The AFSL would then check to make sure that tokenized assets follow securities rules.
This is an update on ASIC’s October 2025 advice, which made the legal position of tokenized products clearer and promised stricter action against models that don’t have a license. Joe Longo, the chair of ASIC, highlighted the need to be ready: “Australia must seize opportunities or get left behind as tokenization reshapes capital markets globally.”
A balance between consumer protections and innovation
The people who wrote the bill stress proportionality: AFSL regulations are based on the risks of crypto, so they don’t put too much pressure on all firms. Exchanges need to be clear about how they keep their assets safe, whether they use hot or cold wallets, and they need to have robust risk management to stop hacks like the Ronin breach in 2022, which cost $625 million. Under Australian Consumer Law, misleading ads, which are frequent in the crypto world, would be punished.
For RWAs, the framework makes sure that tokenized assets like property fractions or commodity-backed tokens follow the regulations for property, taxes, and bankruptcy. This builds trust in a sector that could be worth AU$1 trillion by 2030. “We’re treating digital assets the same as any other kind of property. The same rules about property rights, consumer protection, and taxes apply,” Mulino said.
Innovation gets some space to breathe: Sandbox exemptions for low-volume companies encourage experimentation, and the bill is in line with global norms like the EU’s MiCA, which makes it easier for money to flow across borders. According to ASIC, Australia’s crypto sector, which has 3.5 million holdings and $10 billion in yearly volume, may grow by 20% if more platforms follow the rules.
Changes in Australia’s rules and regulations
Since the 2018 ASIC warning about ICOs, Australia’s crypto regulation has changed quickly. The 2021 AML/CTF rules required exchanges to do KYC, and the 2023 Treasury consultation set the stage for this bill. There are OJK-like groups in Indonesia that are similar, however Australia’s AFSL focus is on behavior rather than just following the rules.
According to ASIC’s Longo, “Tokenization is changing markets—Australia can’t afford to fall behind.” The bill deals with hacks in 2025 ($2.1 billion in losses, CertiK) and scams ($500 million, ACCC). It also requires dispute structures that cut settlement times from months to weeks.
Getting everyone on the same page is important: The U.S. GENIUS Act’s guidelines for stablecoins in July 2025 and the UK’s framework in 2026 might make standards more consistent, making it easier for Australian companies to grow internationally.
Responses from the Market and Industry
People who are new to crypto like how clear it is: Adrian Przelozny, the CEO of Independent Reserve, called it a “long-overdue structure” and said it would lead to a 15% increase in volume. Ryan Parsons from Swyftx said, “AFSL will get rid of bad actors, which will help good players.” Edul Patel from the Digital Finance Council is one of the skeptics who says that compliance costs ($5–10 million a year) will hurt entrepreneurs.
The markets didn’t care: Bitcoin was worth $118,000 and Ethereum was worth $4,200. Australia’s 3.5 million holders (14% of the population) are looking at tokenized chances. X was buzzing: “Finally, real rules—time for RWAs to grow,” said @CryptoOz. @ASICupdates retweeted, “Innovation with integrity.”
Conclusion
Australia’s Digital Assets Bill, which requires crypto platforms to have an AFSL, strikes a compromise between safety and growth by having the same standards for trading, custody, and RWAs. Exemptions for small businesses help new businesses get started, and openness stops scams in a $10 billion sector. ASIC’s Longo says Australia should take advantage of tokenization’s AU$1T potential. The bill makes Australia an APAC hub. Watch for compliance waves and new ideas to come in 2026.
