Australia considers digital currency
Australia turned the heads of crypto enthusiasts on Wednesday with the country’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announcing a consultation on digital currency reforms.
In a speech in Melbourne, Frydenberg said the government is studying plans for a central bank digital currency, along with regulating the crypto market, as it seeks to reform how consumers and businesses in the country pay for goods and services.
The government will also consult on a digital version of cash that will be universally accessible and consider a license framework that allows crypto transactions in a regulated environment.
The Australian government expects to receive advice on both by the end of 2022, Bloomberg reported.
“If we do not reform the current framework, it will be Silicon Valley that determines the future of our payments system,” Frydenberg
said in the speech. “These are significant shifts which we need to be in front of.”
Reacting to the speech, Mikkel Morch, executive director at crypto/digital assets hedge fund ARK36 said: “Governments around the world are waking up to the reality that cryptocurrencies have already become an entrenched part of the global payments environment — and one that is preferred over the legacy systems by a growing number of individuals.
“After the recent EU crypto regulation proposal, Australia has now announced its working on a similar document — and it is to be expected that other major jurisdictions will follow suit.”
“Importantly, the scope of the regulation outlined by the Australian Treasurer doesn’t seem to be overly restrictive. Clearly, then, the regulators recognise the immense economic and innovation potential of crypto and don’t want to stifle it,” Morch added.