One in three Australian crypto-owners say they would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto products in the next 12 months, according to research by the digital payments giant.Īmong crypto-owners, the biggest drivers are to build wealth (40 per cent), to take part in the "financial way of the future" (34 per cent) and fear of missing out on gains (28 per cent). Visa spokesman Anthony Jones says every financial institution will require a strategy for crypto as Australians start to change how they think about money. The 24- to 34-year-old age group was the most trusting of crypto, with 27.6 per cent saying they bought in to get rich, while people aged 65-plus remain sceptical. Independent Reserve's annual survey found 28.6 per cent of Australians who do not currently own crypto say they would invest if there were better consumer protections in place.īitcoin remains the most well-known and popular cryptocurrency in Australia, ahead of Ethereum. "You're under probation, you're under watch." "They're screening very carefully but they've got one eye on it under this exemption regime." "They've only given two or three actual licences," Mr Pucci says. The city-state has created a regulatory sandbox for more than 200 start-ups to play in while authorities keep a close watch. Rival areas are already luring Australian talent and transactions, including the Independent Reserve exchange that was developed here over the past decade and licensed this year by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
"There's one more thing we expect to see in the next year and that's more big-name investors like Carnegie choosing to take jobs and companies to crypto-friendly jurisdictions," she says. The stringent New York regime put trading limits on state residents and required capital and costly licenses that most start-ups could not afford. "The Senate inquiry was a bipartisan activity, and it would be great to see the opposition engage with the recommendations of the report to provide the certainty that the industry needs to make decisions about investment and hiring over the next year." "The major source of uncertainty is not the policy that's been announced, it's actually the upcoming election. "Like the rest of the digital asset sector, we're very pleased to see the government taking the industry seriously," she says. "If you look at the fine print of Treasurer Frydenberg's document, the timetable for the key planks of this are not going to come through, assuming they win the election and parliament passes the legislation, until mid to late-2022," Mr Pucci says.Ĭhloe White, a former federal insider who guided policy thinking on blockchain and crypto-assets, is now managing director at Genesis Block. The overhaul includes a licensing regime for crypto exchanges and custody rules for assets, and draws heavily on the recommendations of a Senate inquiry chaired by fintech enthusiast Andrew Bragg.
"For the Liberals to have a policy that is going to help that market develop and be sustained with more of an Australian presence, and more Australian protections for investors, is going to be an attractive thing."īut he says Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's plans for regulation create a "weird limbo state" for crypto investors.