The Australian Treasury has published a draft bill that would require cryptocurrency exchange platforms and related service providers to obtain an Australian financial services license.
The proposal, open for consultation on Thursday, seeks to amend the Corporations Act 2001 to formally classify digital asset platforms (DAPs) and tokenized custody platforms (TCPs) as regulated financial products.
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This reclassification would automatically subject these platforms to the full suite of existing licensing obligations and consumer protections.
The Treasury has emphasized that the framework targets businesses that hold customer assets, not digital assets themselves, which are already covered by existing laws.
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The move comes after significant losses suffered by consumers as a result of digital asset intermediaries going bankrupt, both globally and in Australia.