Australia has passed the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, establishing a dedicated regulatory structure for digital assets after approval in both houses of Parliament. Introduced in November 2025, the bill amends the Corporations Act and the ASIC Act to bring digital asset trading platforms and tokenised custody providers into Australia’s financial services licensing regime.
The law is designed to strengthen consumer protection, support market integrity and provide regulatory certainty. It now awaits royal assent and will come into force 12 months after assent, with an additional transition window allowing businesses time to meet compliance requirements.
Under the new rules, crypto operators — including exchanges and custody platforms — must hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). That requirement embeds these services within Australia’s existing financial services supervision framework and subjects them to relevant licensing and conduct obligations.
Industry group the Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA) welcomed the reform, saying it offers long-awaited clarity for businesses, investors and regulators and shifts the sector from uncertainty toward implementation.
An addendum to the bill’s Explanatory Memorandum provides further guidance on how the law applies to multi-party computation (MPC). MPC is a cryptographic approach that fragments control of private keys across multiple parties so that no single participant has unilateral control; transactions require cooperation from a specified quorum, which can strengthen security.
The addendum makes clear the law is intended to capture entities that actually custody crypto assets on behalf of customers. Pure technology providers that supply MPC tools or other shared-control solutions are not meant to be caught by the licensing requirement unless, in practice, they hold or control customer assets. The distinction targets firms with factual custody and control rather than third-party vendors that only provide key-management technology.
Former Treasury digital asset policy official Jazz Ozvald and other observers described passage of the bill as an important milestone for Australia’s digital asset sector. They said the explanatory detail on custodial arrangements and emerging custody models such as MPC should help firms better understand their compliance obligations.
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