The Australian federal government is planning to introduce new regulations that will require cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain a financial services license. The regulations will focus on the exchanges themselves rather than individual tokens or cryptocurrencies. Exchanges holding more than $5 million in aggregate or exceeding $1,500 for any individual user will be required to obtain an Australian Financial Services License issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The regulations will also enforce stringent standards for exchanges, including transparency, managing conflicts of interest, and meeting solvency and cash reserve requirements. Asset custody rules will also be enforced to enhance consumer protection. The government plans to introduce additional obligations for exchanges, such as standardizing contract forms and implementing custody software and token transaction standards. The proposed regulations aim to strike a balance between consumer protection and promoting innovation. Public consultation on the government’s plans will continue until December 1, with an exposure draft of the proposed legislation set to be released in 2024. NFTs will remain unregulated, but exchanges dealing with non-financial tokens will still require financial services licenses. The Treasury aims to create regulations that accommodate the increasing tokenization of assets while prioritizing consumer protection.

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Information	Details
Geography	Australia
Countries	🇦🇺
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	Stephen Jones, Joe Longo
Companies	Treasury, Australian Financial Services License (AFSL), FTX, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Financial Review, ASIC Chairman Joe Longo, British regulations, Canadian regulations, European regulations, Singapore regulations
Currencies	None
Securities	None