Category: Australia

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Australia Crypto News Regulation

Australia’s New PM Highlights Crypto Regulation Among Top Priorities

As newly minted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese settles in to his role after the Australian Labor Party’s victory in last weekend’s federal election, emphasis is being placed on crypto regulation as one of the new government’s top priorities.

Anthony Albanese sworn in as Australia's new prime minister | NewsTrack ... https://english.newstracklive.com/news/anthony-albanese-sworn-in-as-australias-new-prime-minister-sc57-nu318-ta318-1229906-1.html
Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, vows to prioritise the crypto industry.

Albanese Prioritises Crypto

Labor has a lot of priority policies to install as it gets stuck into its term and, notably, crypto is a highlight on the list. Alongside its plans to tackle the cost of living and more urgently address the issue of climate change, Albanese’s government will be continuing the outgoing Liberal Party’s work towards regulating the industry as efficiently as possible.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, has weighed in on the subject, stating that Labor will be looking to create a digital assets-focused regulatory bill. However, it will be a priority to avoid the restriction of future innovation while developing such a bill:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinebowler/overlay/photo/

The primary concern would be to put together the appropriate regulatory regime for the marketplace, but also to leave room for innovation.

Caroline Bowler, CEO, BTC Markets

As Labor has inherited an increasingly difficult economic situation, crypto is unlikely to be the only financial sector up for examination.

Roadmap to Regulation

Crypto regulation had been a hot topic in government prior to Labor’s electoral win. April 23 saw the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) produce a regulatory roadmap for the crypto industry. The roadmap outlined APRA’s preliminary risk management expectations for “regulated entities dealing with digital assets”.

More recently, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was forced to halt trading on its pilot crypto app amid market turmoil. The decision was justified by stating that CBA’s focus was on ensuring the endeavour was aligned with the required regulations.

Conversations surrounding the regulation of crypto really picked up in late 2021 as billions of dollars of investors’ money caused an industry boom, with the associated risks noticeably high for both investors and businesses.

Categories
Australia Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Education Real Estate

Western Australia Real Estate Body Introduces Mandatory Blockchain Training

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) is set to introduce mandatory blockchain training to WA real estate agents in an Australian-first move designed to help the sector adapt and evolve as cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream.

This week's property round-up | Business News https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/This-weeks-property-round-up-77
Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) to offer mandatory blockchain training.

Real Estate to Adopt Tokenisation and Smart Contracts

This training will allow the industry to broaden its service offerings and utilise blockchain applications such as tokenisation and smart contracts. Partnering with Perth-based blockchain consulting firm TecStack for the delivery of the training, REIWA will educate its industry on how crypto can affect sellers, buyers, tenants and property managers.

TecStack’s director, Abheeti Pass, has described crypto as “fast-moving technology”, noting that the first to adapt are most likely to have the best chance to capitalise on growth opportunities in the field:

https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-florence-presents-la-tecnologia-blockchain-e-limpatto-sulla-formazione-reinventing-the-future-w-tecstack/

We are seeing whole new DeFi markets and technology-enhanced property online services opening up, and it is vitally important that today’s real estate professionals know how to understand and cater to these emerging customers’ needs so they can build ongoing relationships based on trust and expertise.

Abheeti Pass, director, TecStack

With an influx of DeFi newcomers in the market who are not using traditional finance methods, there is an opportunity for real estate agents to take on new types of clients.

Crypto Pops in on Property

The real estate sector has been moving slowly but steadily in its adoption of crypto, with increments of progress such as this one cropping up across the globe. September 2021 saw multinational commercial real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) make a deal with blockchain platform VeChain in a push to promote sustainable practices in the sector.

And January 2022 was a big month for blockchain tech in real estate as Propy, the real estate smart token, shot up by 227 percent following its Coinbase listing. Propy is one of the leaders in buying and selling homes via smart contracts.

In other related news, US fintech company Milo is now offering its customers zero deposit, Bitcoin-backed real estate loans. This is a world-first bitcoin mortgage offering, yet it will only be usable for US property.

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Australia Coinstash Crypto News Investing

Own a Piece of an Australian Crypto Exchange with Coinstash in its Crowdfunding Round

Fancy owning a piece of a rapidly growing and trusted Australian crypto exchange? Brisbane-based digital asset platform Coinstash is growing at a rapid rate and now presents Australian retail investors with the opportunity to own a piece of the action:

Public Crowdfunding Round

AUSTRAC-registered Coinstash is officially offering prospective investors to register interest in an opportunity to participate in its second equity crowdfunding round.

At Coinstash, we believe cryptocurrency is one of the biggest and most transformative inventions of the 21st century. Our mission is to financially empower our clients by bridging the gap between traditional finance and the world of crypto.

Ting Wang – CEO & Co-Founder

This follows an enormously successful A$2.8 million crowdfunding raise in 2021. In fact, last year proved to be an enormously successful one for Coinstash, which demonstrated exponential growth across a number of key metrics. In particular, customer growth exceeded 500 percent, while trade volume increased by 322 percent.

Currently, the exchange has more than 20,000 registered users who trade more than 340 cryptocurrencies. Part of the company’s success is no doubt attributable to recently launched Coinstash Earn, a loyalty program where customers can earn rewards of up to 24 percent on their crypto assets.

Coinstash Earn program. Source: Coinstash

Exciting Future For Brisbane and Crypto

According to its website, Coinstash has a number of exciting plans scheduled for launch prior to the end of 2023, subject to regulatory approval. These include:

  • Coinstash Borrow – where customers can borrow Australian dollars (or crypto) using their crypto holdings as collateral.
  • Coinstash Spend – a crypto credit card where customers’ crypto holdings would be a factor in determining their credit limit.

These exciting initiatives offer additional evidence that Coinstash is much more than an exchange. As crypto investors increasingly demand yields on their crypto, not to mention the capacity to borrow against it, Coinstash appears well-positioned to capitalise on these trends.

Prospective investors can register their interest directly here and find out more by attending an upcoming webinar on May 27 at 12pm AEST.

For more information on Coinstash, please see our Coinstash review.

Disclaimer: Always consider the general CSF risk warning and offer document before investing.

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Australia Banking Crypto News

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Halts Crypto Trading Pilot Amid Market Turmoil

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) announced this week that it will be halting its rollout of the upcoming in-app crypto trading facility, due to the current market turmoil.

For those who were trialling the pilot, trading has been put on hold with no mention of when it might be set to restart.

Australia's Commonwealth Bank Accused of Massive Money-Laundering ... https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/australia-s-commonwealth-bank-accused-massive-money-laundering-breaches-n789181
CBA pauses in-app crypto trading trial.

CBA’s chief executive, Matt Comyn, has described the crypto market as “a very volatile sector that remains an enormous amount of interest [for CBA]”. However, the company’s focus seems to be on ensuring customer wellbeing and aligning itself with the proper regulations.

https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/newsroom/matt-comyn-cba-ceo-201801.html

We want to continue to play a leading role in providing input into that and shaping the most appropriate regulatory outcome … Our intention at this stage is to restart the pilot, but there are still a couple of things that we want to work through on a regulatory front to make sure that that is most appropriate.

Matt Comyn, chief executive, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Australia’s Federal Treasury is currently meeting to discuss these matters, with submissions remaining open until May 27. The result of this weekend’s election will also hold sway over how this regulation might look.

Earlier last month, CBA was experiencing delays with its upcoming crypto app due to regulatory speed bumps. This came as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission worked to ensure that CBA’s offering would comply with design and distribution rules. Plans for the app were announced in November last year, and CBA has met multiple challenges in bringing it to fruition.

CommBank’s Scam Alert

Just a month ago, the Commonwealth Bank issued a scam alert on the discovery of a false crypto platform partnership report. The fake article had been doing the rounds on social media platforms, misrepresenting the CBA brand and trying to entice Aussies to engage with the scammer’s website. CBA was a logical target for the scammers considering the bank’s prior engagement with the crypto industry.

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Australia Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law Investing Regulation

Portugal’s Crypto Tax Haven Status Set to End, 28% Capital Gains Impost Coming Soon

Portugal’s Finance Minister Fernando Medina has confirmed that the southern European nation will begin taxing cryptocurrencies, reversing a six-year-old tax law that excluded crypto gains on the grounds that they are not legal tender.

The current capital gains tax rate for financial investment in Portugal is 28 percent. However, legislation relating to the introduction of such an impost on crypto could take two or more years to implement, given Portugal’s notoriously slow-moving bureaucracy:

Portugal’s altered tax stance will bring the country into line with many other nations around the globe. Among them are Australia – whose Tax Office earlier this week warned investors of the need to report annual crypto capital gains and losses – the UK and US.

Goodbye ‘Golden Visa’

Until now, Portugal has been seen as a crypto tax haven that offers permanent residency via what is known as the ‘Golden Visa’, because it grants holders special tax exemptions and a path to citizenship. The program was instituted as a means of attracting foreign investors, and in response to the country’s new tax plan, industry observer and cyber security professional Anthony Sassano saw the funny side:

Portugal may wish to take note of the fact that late last month, Panama passed a bill exempting crypto from capital gains tax, making the Central/South American republic a more attractive destination for digital asset investors.

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Australia Crypto News DeFi Terra Tokens

Australian Poll in March Predicted LUNA Would Top $143 This Year

Hindsight is a wonderful thing – in this case, the discovery of an Australian poll dating back to March that predicted the LUNA token would top US$143 this year.

‘LUNA Worth $390 by 2025’: Finder Survey

The crypto industry has proved its volatility lately as Terra fell and LUNA crashed. It was a crash, it seems, no one was expecting, not even the professionals. The Finder survey from March this year, for example, demonstrated the confidence that 36 fintech specialists had in Terra:

In late March to early April – prior to Terra (UST) losing its peg -Finder surveyed 36 fintech specialists for their thoughts on how LUNA [would] perform over the next decade. At the time, they thought Terra (LUNA) would be worth US$143 by the end of 2022 before rising to $390 by 2025.”

Finder.com

The biggest lesson to take out of this is that crypto is unfortunately still very unpredictable. While uncertainty still surrounds the future of LUNA and Terra, no token is exempt from the industry’s volatility and investors need to be smart, rather than taking predictions as gospel:

The LUNA Crash: Knock-On Effects

The LUNA collapse has had industry-wide knock-on effects. One of the most prominent outcomes has been significant falls across the DeFi market, as the crash was not restricted to the Terra ecosystem. With LUNA plummeting by 97 percent, there have now been approximately US$900 million worth of liquidations.

LUNA’s heartbroken founder, Do Kwon, has set to work on a revival plan, which is essentially a restart of the whole Terra blockchain. However, previous fans of LUNA are now struggling to trust the word of Kwon and are sceptical of the project’s return.

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Australia Cryptocurrency Law Cryptocurrency Tax

ATO Plans to Focus on Crypto Capital Gains for 2022 Tax Season

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced its priorities for the upcoming tax 2022 year and included is a warning for crypto investors to ensure they don’t disregard their tax obligations when it comes to the disposal of digital assets:

Crypto Capital Gains Tax The Target

Crypto capital gains are one of the four priorities for tax time listed in the May 16 media release, with the ATO flagging legal action against anyone guilty of falsifying records or who fails to substantiate their claims:

Tim Loh, the ATO’s assistant commissioner, has stated that while the ATO has a reasonable idea of investor activity, diligence on the part of taxpayers is recommended when it comes to recording transactions:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-loh-632a7919/overlay/photo/

Crypto is a popular type of asset and we expect to see more capital gains or capital losses reported in tax returns this year. Remember, you can’t offset your crypto losses against your salary and wages.

Tim Loh, ATO assistant commissioner

NFTs are also within the scope of the assets that must be accounted for, as they will be subject to tax if sold for a profit.

Crypto Taxes in Other Forms

With the 2022 federal election only days away, the policy is being prepared for the regulation of digital assets and artists. NFTs reportedly needed quick policy implementation to prevent a drain on the economy. However, pro-crypto NSW Senator Andrew Bragg has said that such taxing is “inadvertent” and offers no real transfer of value.

June 2021 saw the assembly of a cooperative task force consisting of the ATO, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Federal Police, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC). Labelled the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT), its role is to investigate the circumstances surrounding crypto money laundering, fraud, and tax avoidance.

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Australia Crypto News USD Coin Vitalik Buterin

UNSW Sydney Gets $4 Million Crypto Donation from Vitalik Buterin for AI-Powered Research

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has gifted US$4 million worth of USD Coin (USDC) to Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) to support the development of an artificial intelligence-based pandemic detection tool:

Buterin’s donation will underwrite the Shiba Inu Open-Source Intelligence-based EPIWATCH tool, which utilises AI and open-source data to create early pandemic warnings.

It’s all part of what Buterin describes as his “moonshot anti-Covid effort”, in partnership with the Shiba Inu memecoin project and the Crypto Relief fund, which was launched during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India last year.

Tool Scans Online Data for Covid Updates

EPIWATCH is the brainchild of Raina MacIntyre, professor and biosecurity research head at UNSW’s Kirby Institute, based at the university’s Sydney campus. The tool can scan millions of items of publicly available online data, including social media and news reports, to detect any changes that could suggest increasing Covid-related health concerns.

Raina MacIntyre, biosecurity research head, UNSW. Source: sph.med.unsw.edu.au

MacIntyre says the aim was to make the tool accessible at a “grassroots” level and make sure it covers enough languages to reach “villages and small towns around the world”. MacIntyre also eluded that “Imagine if someone had detected Covid-19 before it spread around the world – that is our vision. Using AI and real-time open-source data, EPIWATCH does not depend on people making reports. It is a great equaliser and can overcome weak health systems and censorship.”

Open-Source Approach Accelerates Pandemic Detection

In announcing his donation to the project, Buterin stressed the importance of sharing data in a decentralised and open manner to speed up pandemic detection:

[It’s] an excellent alternative to more intrusive forms of monitoring, which are also often only available to governments and other high bidders but closed to the public. By contrast, an open-source and open-access approach that allows researchers to work collaboratively across the world can be more easily improved and scaled to detect new pandemics wherever they begin.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder

Australian universities are at the forefront of crypto-related research designed to benefit humanity. Earlier this month, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University launched its Green Cryptocurrency Laboratory, which will focus on reducing crypto’s carbon footprint.

And last year, in response to an outbreak of fake Covid-19 vaccine certificates circulating on the web, Australian medical specialists called for a nationwide roll-out of a blockchain-based vaccine certificate system.

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Australia ETFs Investing Markets

Australian Crypto ETFs Fizzle on Debut, Only $2 Million in Volume

This week’s long-awaited launch of the first Australian crypto ETFs went off not with a bang but with a fizzle, as the investment products were released amid some of the darkest days in the history of crypto.

Since May 11 Australians have been able to invest directly in three Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on Cboe Australia, through two providers. 

All three new crypto ETFs had trading volumes far below what was predicted, as the Terra blockchain collapse continued to wreak havoc across the entire crypto market, with Bitcoin plunging to levels not seen since 2020 and Ethereum falling to a six-month low.

All Three ETFs Attract Little Interest 

On their first day of trade, none of the newly launched funds was able to crack A$1 million in trading volume:

  • ETF Securities’ issued ETFS 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) saw investor inflows of A$954,925. 
  • ETF Securities’ Ethereum fund ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETF (EETH) attracted just A$604,305.
  • Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Asset ETF (CBTC), issued by Sydney-based Cosmos Asset Management, fared worst, securing only A$454,002 in investor funds.

These numbers compare poorly with the launch of the BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF (CRYP) – a fund that doesn’t invest directly in crypto but rather in crypto-related shares, such as Coinbase – which did over A$8 million in trade within 15 minutes of its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). To be fair, though, that fund launched when Bitcoin was at an all-time high last November and the crypto market was on the ascent.

Why the Poor Start?

The new funds launched during a full-blown crisis in crypto markets, the magnitude of which we haven’t seen for years, if ever. It makes sense that concerned investors would be less inclined to get into crypto under current conditions.

The collapse of the Terra blockchain has sparked a US$450 billion drop in the overall crypto market cap since May 7, in a single week. According to CoinGecko, the price of Bitcoin has dropped by almost 25 percent in the past fortnight alone and now sits at US$29,531. 

In addition, the unusually high 42 percent margin requirement imposed on the new ETFs by national clearing authority, ASX Clear, has made the funds less attractive to market participants, meaning major brokers and platforms are refusing to support the ETFs.

Due to the high margin requirements and higher volatility of the underlying assets, some brokers who are selling the ETFs are also only allowing sophisticated investors to trade and are charging additional fees for the privilege.

Another factor likely affecting demand is that investors can already easily access Bitcoin and Ethereum directly, simply by purchasing the assets from a crypto exchange.

The race to launch the first crypto ETF in the Australia market was closely contested, with these three Australian-based crypto ETFs just beating out funds from Canadian challenger 3iQ Digital Asset Management.

Categories
Australia Bitcoin ETFs Ethereum

Australia’s First Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Go Live

Today marks a historic day for the Australian investment landscape as retail and institutional investors are now able to invest in the newly launched Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on Cboe Australia (“Cboe”):

Off the Ground, Despite False Starts

For market participants, the road to Australia’s first spot-based crypto ETF has been a long and, at times, painful journey. Some two weeks ago, regulators gave the green light but within days the launch was delayed due to an issue relating to the prime dealer.

With that out of the way and more ETFs likely on the horizon, Australians now have a choice to invest directly in three ETFs through two providers, becoming only the eighth country to do so.

21 Shares will offer both an ETH and BTC ETF, whereas Cosmos will list only an ETH ETF, at least for now. Each of the ETFs will hold the crypto assets offshore in cold storage, and track the spot price of each in Australian dollars.

The news elicited much excitement, with some indicating that they expected significant capital inflows:

ETF Securities chairman Graham Tuckwell, who earlier criticised regulators for dragging their heels, commented: “Today is an exciting day for our team, a culmination of months of hard work to bring these ETFs to the Australian market. EBTC and EETH are true firsts for Australia, and we are excited to be launching with Cboe Australia.”

ETF Securities head of distribution Kanish Chugh recognised that while current market conditions were not ideal, they did provide a good entry point for new investors:

Australian investor interest in cryptocurrencies has not waned in recent months even as we have seen underperformance, and with Bitcoin’s recent sell-off as well, it may present an opportunity for investors who have been looking for attractive entry points into this new asset class.

Kanish Chugh, head of distribution, ETF Securities

Cboe Australia CEO Vic Jokovic expressed delight at the “breakthrough products”, saying they paved the way for “more Australians to expose their portfolios to cryptocurrency in a regulated manner”.

Although the caveat “not your keys, not your coins” holds true, the listings provide clear evidence of growing mainstream adoption, a trend that is only likely to accelerate.

Zero Chance of BTC Going to Zero

One wonders how local fund managers such as Hamish Douglass have taken the news, particularly since he thinks bitcoin will go to zero. Australian podcaster Mission Bitcoin suggests that those who believe it will be worth zero are simply not paying attention:

Given Bitcoin’s fundamentals and increased role in the global economic landscape, it’s difficult to disagree with that sentiment.