Značka: Andrew Bragg

Australian senator drafts bill aimed at stablecoin, digital yuan regulation

Australian senator drafts bill aimed at stablecoin, digital yuan regulation

podľa | sep 19, 2022 | 0 |

Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has released a new draft bill aimed at clamping down on digital asset exchanges, stablecoins, and China’s central bank digital currency, the e-Yuan.In a statement on Sept. 18, Senator Bragg stated that “Australia must keep pace with the global race for regulation on digital assets” as “it is essential that the parliament drives law reform” on the matter.The new draft bill, titled Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2022, calls for the introduction of licenses for digital asset exchanges, digital asset custody services, stablecoin issuers, as well as disclosure requirements for facilitators of the e-Yuan in Australia. Australia must keep pace in the digital assets race: a bill to protect consumers, promote investment & protect our interests.Media statement: https://t.co/VxFnAKnh1vNew Bill: https://t.co/rtMj2t9Ng2— Senator Andrew Bragg (@ajamesbragg) September 18, 2022Speaking to Cointelegraph, Senator Bragg said Australia has “quite a risk exposure, as an economy, and that’s one of the reasons why we need to have a serious program for managing disruption, managing risks, that emanate from the development of a CBDC.”Senator Bragg said the objective of this particular act is to provide “an effective regulatory framework” as well as to provide “for the reporting of information by certain banks that facilitate the use or availability of digital Yuan in Australia” and to provide “additional duties” for governing bodies in relation to this act and the “regulation of activities relating to digital assets and digital Yuan.”Senator Bragg said that this isn’t “an accusatory position to take” it’s simply just being “prepared and gathering information” which he thinks is entirely “reasonable.”The Liberal senator also added that Australia wouldn’t benefit from having a CBDC as “privacy issues cannot be managed,” however it is important that the Australian government “put something on the table” to manage other CBDCs being introduced, as the Governor of The Reserve Bank of Australia has “spoken before saying there needs to be regulation on stablecoins.”The draft bill consultation is open until Oct. 31, 2022 and welcomes “community feedback.”Andrew Bragg, a pro-crypto Australian politician, has been an outspoken advocate for cryptocurrency since he was elected senator in 2019. Senator Bragg has been pushing for a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and crypto companies since 2021, in an effort to prevent local startups from moving overseas. Senator Bragg noted that he “chaired the committee” for digital assets with “no fixed view at the time” and “conducted an inquiry into these matters” as well as informing himself “about the risks and opportunities.”Related: Chinese municipal bank issues first-ever digital yuan loan using intellectual property as collateralMeanwhile, the Australian Labor government is said to be working on “crypto asset reforms” to “improve the way Australia’s regulatory system manages crypto assets.” Last month, the treasury stated it will “prioritize token mapping work in 2022, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated.”

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Commonwealth Bank's plans to expand crypto services to 6.5M delayed by red tape

Commonwealth Bank's plans to expand crypto services to 6.5M delayed by red tape

podľa | apr 7, 2022 | 0 |

Financial regulators are standing in the way of expanded crypto services on Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) mobile app. In an Australian first, the bank aims to grant all of its 6.5 million users access to cryptocurrency services.The CBA’s crypto products started a pilot of the services late last year after which it hoped to open up to all of the users of its app, however it now appears to be moving toward a second pilot. The Australia Financial Review (AFR) reported on April 6 that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has tied up the launch with red tape.ASIC objects to the launch on the basis of consumer protections regarding the target market and product disclosures. CBA has been working with ASIC and several other regulatory bodies within the Australian government in order to launch the services.Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Cryptocurrency Summit on April 6, ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour explained her commission’s recent focus on crypto despite arguments that it falls outside ASIC’s purview. She said that although crypto assets are not necessarily financial products which the commission can regulate, it was concerned: “Consumers may be investing in an environment where they are not afforded the same level of protection that applies to financial products and services.”In fighting back against new guidelines from ASIC that prohibit much of the work financial influencers do, government Senator Andrew Bragg stated that ASIC’s application of rules for financial products cannot be applied to crypto assets because cryptocurrency is not a financial product under Australian law. In her speech Armour commented on ASIC’s ability to truly regulate crypto assets “depends on whether they fit within the legal framework for financial products and services,” which she says is “a matter for Parliament.”Armour added that she sees “real benefits of innovation being within our regulatory regime,” but cautioned that: “There are a bunch of rules there that you need to follow.”“There are a bunch of rules there that you need to follow.”The announcement of the CBA’s intention to launch crypto services created a buzz last November as it was the first of the country’s “big four” banks to do so. Blockchain Australia CEO Steve Vallas told Cointelegraph that the move would be “extraordinarily important.” Related: Aussie convenience store giant to accept crypto at 170 outletsTo make the product a reality, the CBA partnered with offshore crypto exchange Gemini and blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. Once fully launched, the product will include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).

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Australian Senator proposes landmark Digital Services Act

Australian Senator proposes landmark Digital Services Act

podľa | mar 21, 2022 | 0 |

Australian Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg opened the Australia Blockchain Week conference with a bombshell legislative proposal that he hopes will lay the groundwork for a new Digital Asset ecosystem down under.The proposed Digital Services Act (DSA) legislative package calls for reforms in crypto market licensing, custody, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), debanking, and taxes. Senator Bragg said in his address at the conference that he expects the legislation in the Act to “protect (crypto) consumers against malicious operators.”Senator Bragg outlined the four main pillars that the DSA is guided by. He explained that the DSA would be technologically neutral, have broad and flexible principles, be regulated by a Minister rather than a bureaucratic agency, and use government resources and personnel. In his view, such guidance will help Australia show that the country is ready to take a greater role in the crypto industry. “This will show Australia is open for business and things are clear and clean.”The Senator also took on DAO’s, challenging various branches of the government to take them seriously. He went as far as calling them “an existential threat to the tax base” under current rules. According to data published by the Parliament of Australia, the company tax accounts for the second-largest source of revenue for the government behind income tax, however, DAOs are not taxed as companies. To that, Senator Bragg said that his country’s “reliance on company tax is unsustainable” if an increasing number of organizations become a DAO. As a result, the DSA would task the government with creating a framework for creating standards for DAOs without stifling their core principles.The standards would essentially ensure consumers have access to audit, assurance, and disclosure services from DAOs that help them distinguish between retail and wholesale organizations. Senator Bragg called for the Treasury to address those issues while also “leaving the field open for DAOs to continue to live up to their name.”Building on Australia’s crypto hub ambitions: address to @BlockchainAUS.https://t.co/j79BpbGJKI pic.twitter.com/8bf7Sqjut4— Senator Andrew Bragg (@ajamesbragg) March 20, 2022Head of corporate development at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx Michael Harris is in favor of the government instating higher standards for the domestic crypto industry. He told Cointelegraph today that exchanges have nothing to fear from higher standards because ”Most Australian exchanges already take their duty of care to customers very seriously.”Related: Aussie fintech to offer mainstream direct access to DeFi with a fixed rateHarris added that the land down under should be leading the developed world in crypto regulation because of its high rate of adoption. A survey from pollster Finder found that 22.9% of Australians owned crypto from October to December 2021. Harris continued to state that:“We see this as an important step forward. Australia has one of the largest crypto adoption rates in the developed world. It makes complete sense for us to lead on regulation.”One of the major concerns in the crypto market lately is its use by individuals and nations to circumvent global economic sanctions. There is currently a debate raging in the US Senate about whether the Russian government is able to keep its military operation in Ukraine funded with the help of cryptocurrency. Blockchain tracking firm Elliptic found on Mar. 15 that some sanctioned individuals are holding crypto, but Senator Bragg stated that the Aussie government was powerless under the current Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) laws to serve retribution on such offenders. The DCE’s lack of jurisdiction served as motivation for making the new proposals to prevent sanctioned individuals from taking advantage of lax crypto laws, adding:“The reality is we don’t live in a libertarian nirvana. We cannot have regulatory arbitrage.”

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Australian government gives nod to 6 world leading crypto reforms

Australian government gives nod to 6 world leading crypto reforms

podľa | dec 8, 2021 | 0 |

The Australian government is seriously consider the rollout of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and has backed numerous forward-looking regulatory crypto-proposals as part of a new “payments and crypto reform plan.”Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the reforms “will firmly place Australia among a handful of lead countries in the world.”The reform plan is said to be the biggest shake-up of the Australian payments system since the 1990s, with part of the crypto-related groundwork set by the innovative proposals put forward by an Australian Senate Committee in September. According to the Australian Financial Review, the government is in favor of six out of nine reforms proposed by the Senate Committee, including a licensing regime for crypto exchanges, laws to govern decentralized autonomous organizations and a common access regime for new payments platforms. Two proposals relating to tax and financial compliance have been referred to their respective government bodies for consideration, while the government has knocked back another proposal related to renewable energy Bitcoin mining tax discounts. MD @ChloeWhiteAus quoted in the AFR on crypto regulation. The article includes a helpful summary table of the Government’s response to recent crypto proposals, signalling the path forward on regulation in Australia See more: https://t.co/q9ZLuf4r4b pic.twitter.com/ZxmiwoDdjQ— Genesis Block Advisory (@GenesisBlockAus) December 7, 2021Treasurer and deputy leader of the Liberal Party Josh Frydenberg outlined the government’s plans for crypto regulation, taxation and CBDCs in a speech today at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC). “What is clear is that if we embrace these developments, Australia has an enormous opportunity to capitalize on the convergence between finance and technology,” he said. Concerning CBDCs, an unnamed senior government source told The Australian on Dec. 7 that a retail scale “RBA [Reserve Bank of Australia] backed Bitcoin or cryptocurrency” is currently being considered, and will be a key element of the government’s regulatory reform on digital payments. During his AICC speech, Frydenberg spoke bullishly on the crypto asset reform:“For businesses, these reforms will address the ambiguity that can exist about the regulatory and tax treatment of crypto assets and new payment methods. In doing so, it will drive even more consumer interest, facilitate even more new entrants and enable even more innovation to take place.” “For consumers, these changes will establish a regulatory framework to underpin their growing use of crypto assets and clarify the treatment of new payment methods,” he added. One Senate committee proposal the government looks set to ignore is the 10% tax discount for Bitcoin (BTC) miners who use renewable energy. Michael Harris the head of corporate development at local exchange Swyftx, told Cointelegraph:“We think this was a political consideration. The reality is that it’s probably going to be difficult for any government to segregate out an industry like BTC mining from other energy consumers, however laudable the intention.”However Harris said that overall the “noises coming out of government at the moment are promising” as the government seems to have recognized the need to introduce consumer protection laws without stifling innovation. “The devil will be in the detail though and we are especially keen to avoid a system that reduces customer choice by stacking the decks in favor of big, traditional financial players.”Related: Australian women owning crypto has doubled in 2021: SurveyCrypto-friendly senator Andrew Bragg, who drove the recent crypto proposals, told Cointegraph in a statement that Frydenberg’s crypto and fintech reform plan will put “Australia on the tech map”: “Australia will be a world-leading crypto hub under the Treasurer’s plan. Australian consumers will also benefit from new consumer protection rules.”“The world is watching Australia which is now setting the global standard for crypto, payments and digital wallet reform,” he added. Caroline Bowler, the CEO of local crypto exchange BTC markets welcomed the reforms, calling them a “major step forward to upgrade Australia’s one-size-fits-all regulatory framework in real-time.” “It’s great to see that the gaps in Australian regulation relating to digital financial products and the exchanges who support them are being finally addressed at the highest level of authority, and the Coalition Government is not shying away from the big issues surrounding crypto, payments and de-banking,” she said.

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