Three months after being elected to power, the Australian Labor Party has finally spoken out about how it intends to approach cryptocurrency regulation.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced “token mapping.” It was one of 12 recommendations in last year’s senate inquiry report on “Australia as a Technology and Finance Centre“. The report was warmly welcomed by the crypto industry. Those interested anxiously wait to see if the ALP government will accept it.
In a statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers and other senior officials, the Albanese-led government said it wants to dominate over a largely unregulated economy of the cryptocurrency sector.
“As it stands, the cryptocurrency sector is largely unregulated and we need to do some work to get the right balance so we can embrace new and innovative technologies.”
On the other hand, politicians claimed that the previous Liberal-led government had a “hand” in the regulation of crypto assets through crypto secondary service providers without a prior understanding of what was being regulated.
Michael Bacina, a partner at Piper Alderman, said “token mapping” would be an important step toward closing significant educational gaps among regulators and policymakers.
“Australia has overstepped its weight in the blockchain sector right now but we’ve seen regulatory uncertainty lead to businesses leaving the country,” he said.
However, Dr. Aaron Lane, a senior lecturer at the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Centre, believes the token mapping exercise is a delaying tactic by the Labor government.
Token mapping was a recommendation of the Senate Committee into Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre. https://t.co/tEAJn11nQo pic.twitter.com/LmfSWG8Zn3
— Aaron Lane (@AMLane_au) August 21, 2022
