Australian Senate Panel Backs Bill to Bring Crypto Platforms Under Financial Services Rules

Local crypto regulation moved a step closer this week as an Australian Senate Committee published a report on March 16 recommending its colleagues pass the Digital Assets Framework Bill into law. The bill will now move to the Senate for debate and a final vote later this year.

In endorsing the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee said it would make a “substantial improvement to the regulation of digital assets, including more robust safeguards for Australian consumers.”

The Committee noted that while industry consultation had helped to shape legislation with good support, a number of potential issues had been raised — including the need to clarify how key concepts would actually be applied in practice. 

The bill establishes definitions for exchanges and custody platforms, known as Digital Asset Platforms (DAP) and Tokenised custody platforms (TCP), brings their operation under financial services laws, and gives ASIC and the Minister new powers to regulate them.

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FinTech Australia, which made a submission in support of the Bill’s passage, called the Committee’s endorsement “a significant milestone for Australia’s digital asset sector.” 

In its submission to the Senate, FinTech Australia said that efforts to provide clarity for the sector under existing law — such as ASIC’s Information Sheet 225 guidance — was developed in good faith but had “highlighted the limits of applying legacy frameworks to emerging technologies.”

Progressing the Bill will provide a clearer and more durable regulatory foundation.

FinTech Australia

FinTech Australia said that consultation with its members had shown “no appetite to delay passage of the Bill in pursuit of substantive amendments,” and instead, a desire to ensure the new framework was well implemented. 

Bill’s Progress Ramps Up Exchanges’ Licensing Obligations

Crypto firms operating in Australia are currently required to register as digital currency exchanges with AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) and comply with requirements designed to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorism/crime financing.

Passing of the Digital Assets Framework Bill would require exchanges and custody platforms to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), with unique controls such as “minimum standards for asset holding and disclosure obligations tailored to reflect their structure and risk profile.” The bill includes a six month transition period for platforms to secure an AFSL licence.

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Potential duplication of licensing and the financial burden of obtaining and maintaining compliance under an AFSL have been key points of contention for the crypto industry in discussions around the proposed legislation.

Brisbane-based exchange Swyftx told the Senate Committee that the Bill “relies heavily on historical AFSL concepts that do not map cleanly to digital assets.” Swyftx said that could potentially create “structural frictions” between exchanges and the AFSL regime and risks “technical breaches by licensees unless ASIC provides specific pragmatic relief.”

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