Australia has approved new legislation that will bring a wide range of digital asset platforms, including tokenized custody providers, under its financial services licensing framework.
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 has passed both houses of Parliament, marking a significant step toward establishing a comprehensive regulatory structure for the crypto sector. The bill introduces amendments to existing financial laws with the goal of strengthening consumer protection, enhancing market integrity and providing clearer regulatory guidance.
The legislation now awaits royal assent, after which it will come into force following a 12-month period, along with an additional transition window to allow businesses to comply with the new requirements.
Under the new framework, crypto-related businesses, including exchanges and custody platforms, will be required to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence from Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Industry representatives have welcomed the move as a long-awaited development. The Digital Economy Council of Australia highlighted the importance of having a dedicated legal framework tailored to digital assets.
“For the first time, we have a legislative framework that directly addresses digital asset platforms and it provides long-awaited clarity for businesses, investors and regulators, and marks a shift from uncertainty toward implementation,” DECA said.
Additional guidance included in an addendum to the bill provides further detail on how the rules will apply in practice, particularly in relation to custody arrangements. Former Treasury official Jazz Ozvald noted that the addendum clarifies how the law treats digital assets secured through multi-party computation (MPC), a cryptographic method that distributes control of assets across multiple participants.
The clarification specifies that regulatory obligations apply only to platforms that directly hold crypto assets on behalf of customers. Services that merely provide technology for managing or securing assets, including MPC-based solutions where control is shared, are not subject to the same licensing requirements unless they take custody of funds.
This distinction aims to ensure that regulatory oversight focuses on entities with direct control over user assets, while allowing supporting infrastructure providers to operate without unnecessary constraints.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/australia-pass-bill-mandate-crypto-exchange-license