Australia’s Treasury’s digital asset token mapping will take a “technology agnostic” and “principles-based” approach to defining crypto assets, a Treasury official said.
Trevor Power, assistant secretary of the Australian Department of Treasurer, told Cointelegraph at Australian Blockchain Week on June 26 that the structure of the framework will allow easy classification of tokens according to their function and purpose.
“The Token Mapping document spends a lot of time discussing the value of the token, the system, and delivery, in an attempt to structure any regulation that draws on these principles so that tokens can be placed within it,” Power said, adding:
“It’s trying to be technology agnostic. It’s not trying to be specific to tokens.”
Power said it was “fair to assume” that cryptocurrency-specific legislation would emerge sometime in 2024, but that would ultimately depend on how Australian lawmakers embraced it.
Crypto assets that change their function and utility over time could come under scrutiny, Ball said.
“If they become significant (…) then they will go through the regulatory system.”
He emphasized that token swap regulation needs to be “robust” in order to operate in a “technology-neutral” and “principles-based manner” to deal with such changes.
Ministry of Finance consider token mapping for understand How the crypto ecosystem interacts with Australia’s existing financial regulatory framework.
Ball said the token mapping effort has not been impacted by a series of recent SEC regulatory enforcement actions.
Instead, Power wants the crypto framework to move closer to the “scope” of EU Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation.
related: Finder Founder: Hasty ‘Token Swap’ Could Harm Australian Crypto Space
Power also welcomes US and foreign digital asset firms considering entering the Australian market – provided they adhere to the Token Swap Framework, which seeks to strike a balance between innovation and consumer protection:
“Every component of regulation has two branches. One is making sure that framework exists, and the other is making sure the industry has room to grow and innovate.”
The treasury held consultations between February 3 and March 3, roughly six months after the token swap framework was introduced on August 22.
Consultation is open! Today we published the Token Swap Consultation Paper. The consultation is part of a multi-step reform agenda to develop an appropriate regulatory environment for the sector. #cryptocurrency department. Read the paper and submit comments@ @ASIC_Connect @AUSTRAC pic.twitter.com/OGHuZEGvDp
— Australian Treasury (@Treasury_AU) February 2, 2023
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