Australian cryptocurrency entrepreneur Fred Schebesta described the greatness of the Australian government’s prioritization of “Token Mapping,” but the entrepreneur also warned that rushed enforcement could lead to adverse impacts on the economy.
Schebesta’s comments came after Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers issued a statement on Aug. 22 stating that “the treasury will prioritize token mapping work in 2022 to show how crypto assets and related services should be managed.”
Through the discussion, Schebesta believes that Australia has a nascent cryptocurrency industry but needs to be in line with other major markets and their regulations.
Schebesta added that “the intrusion of token mapping is unclear and things are changing as well.
He stressed that it was not the time to quickly launch token mapping. It is necessary to take the time to do thorough analysis and make it very simple.
The token-mapping announcement has been made 3 months since the new Australian Labor Party government came to power. The leader took a stance on the regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies in the country.
At the time, Treasurer Chalmers said the government wanted to govern the country with an unregulated cryptocurrency sector.
While many in the industry hailed the announcement as an “important step forward” for the industry, some were disappointed that the country did not introduce regulations to ensure the “certainty” of cryptocurrencies.
Australian lawyer Liam Hennessy, partner at Gadens told Cointelegraph that Australia has been at the forefront of “the evolution of cryptocurrencies,” but is concerned that the country is “slowly lagging behind the U.K. and the U.S.” due to not introducing rules for participants in the “crypto industry,” especially those in financial services.”
Hennessy believes that while token mapping is important, it shouldn’t be a central task at the moment for regulators.
“Actually creating some tax rules and regulations around licensing is just secondary that we can give businesses that really need help so they can compete with global competitors.”
He worries that Australia is falling into the trap of “thinking that a little bit of government interest will solve the problems”, which he believes tokenisation “is, to some extent, being viewed as such”.
Schebesta said he was speaking at a Senate hearing in 2021, noting “Australia will have a large influx of new businesses […] because it’s a safe, stable and well-regulated place to build their business,” he said. He added that “tens of thousands of jobs will be created in the next two to three years.”
See also: South Korean authorities seize $184 million in cryptocurrencies from tax evaders
