Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg has told a local industry event that Australia’s digital asset plan to create cryptocurrency-related legislation is “coming” soon and could be enacted in 2022. He also backed plans to run the sector on renewable energy as part of the government's yet-to- be-established goal of achieving ‘net zero’ carbon emissions. Speaking at the virtual NFT Fest event supported by Blockchain Australia on Thursday, Bragg stated that the select Senate committee investigating the topic will publish its report by the end of October and that it will include regulatory recommendations that can be legislated over the next 12 …

The average portfolio size on Australian cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has grown from $577.65 (795.5 AUD) to $2,069.16 (2849.5 AUD) in the financial year 2021, signaling a 258.2% increase in portfolio holdings, according to exchange data compiled by Statista on a recent BTC Markets survey. Data on the survey shows that the average portfolio size of female and male investors in fiscal 20–21 on BTC Markets was $1,924.30 (2,650 AUD) and $2,214.03 (3,049 AUD), respectively. However, in 2020, the average portfolio size of female Aussie investors exceeded male investors slightly. Transaction data on the exchange also showed a pattern of …

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, continues limiting its services amid the ongoing global regulatory scrutiny, announcing new trading restrictions in Australia. Existing Binance users in Australia will have 90 days to reduce and close their positions for products such as cryptocurrency futures, options and leveraged tokens, the exchange announced Monday. Effective from Friday, Australian users will no longer be able to increase or open new positions for derivatives products on Binance. Users will still be able to top-up their margin balances to prevent liquidations and margin calls, the announcement notes. After Dec. 23, Binance users in …

Australian cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets has observed a significant uptick in older clients using its platform over the past financial year. More older Australians are viewing crypto assets as viable investments, according to data provided by one of the country’s oldest and largest exchanges. In its annual “Investor Report,” BTC Markets, which started in 2013, reported a 15% increase in the number of investors over 65. The report also indicates that they are the group making the largest deposits. Baby Boomers, which are classified as those born between 1946 and 1964, now compose 5% of the platform’s estimated 325,000 customer …

Australian "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) firm Zip , the smaller rival to Square’s recently-acquired Afterpay, is hitching its future growth prospects to the cryptocurrency industry. Zip USA CEO Brad Lindenberg told attendees at the company's first retail investor day that “The innovation around crypto feels like the internet did in 1995.” The company’s interest in crypto has been hinted at previously and has now materialized into a concrete plan: A project that integrates crypto trading functionality for United States users and enables its merchants to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments. Zip's internal research, which found that BNPL users are 67% …

Australian digital asset manager Monochrome has concluded a $1.8 million Series A fundraiser led by some of crypto’s most influential entrepreneurs, underscoring the growing potential of institutional-grade crypto-asset solutions. The cash injection will be used by Monochrome to develop new products specializing in Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets, the company said. The Series A was co-led by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, Blockstream chief strategy officer Samson Mow, former Binance CFO Wei Zhou and Kain Warwick, the founder of Blueshyft and DeFi protocol Synthetix. Following the raise, Monochrome’s total valuation was estimated to be worth roughly $15 million. Monochrome was …

Australian buy now pay later (BNPL) giant Afterpay — now part of Jack Dorsey's Square — has said that it is likely to pursue cryptocurrency services once the regulatory framework is clear. Following Afterpay’s submission to the Senate inquiry into “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center,” which posited that merchants could slash payment costs by utilizing cryptocurrencies, representatives spoke to the inquiry on Sept. 8. Afterpay’s vice president for public policy and communications Damian Kassabgi said that “this idea of being able to exchange currencies from person to person or to a merchant without going through the traditional rails …

Crypto-related companies and figures have provided evidence about being de-banked by Australian financial institutions to a Senate inquiry. Crypto investment firm Aus Merchant, global remittance provider Nium and small peer-to-peer crypto brokerage platform Bitcoin Babe were speaking on a panel as part of the Senate inquiry into “Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre” on Wednesday. All three are registered with financial intelligence regulator AUSTRAC and are subject to reporting requirements; however, they all echoed similar sentiments of being de-banked without a concrete explanation as to why. Michaela Juric, the founder of the peer-to-peer trading business dubbed after her nickname …

Australian buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay believes that local merchants can slash payment costs by utilizing cryptocurrencies. In a submission to the Senate inquiry into “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center,” Afterpay stated that the use of blockchain-based transactions could cut the fees associated with traditional payment methods, including card issuer, network operator and banking fees: “Merchants stand to benefit considerably from the cryptocurrency model, as card network fees are entirely removed from the equation and the customer/payer bears the transaction costs.” Under the crypto model, the customer would front the cost of validating the payment on …

The banking capabilities of fintech have met cryptocurrencies in a new partnership between Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets and local neobank Volt. With a license to operate in Australia as an authorized deposit-taking institution since 2019, Volt will provide corporate cash management accounts for BTC Markets users to manage their Australian dollar funds. Those accounts allow real-time payments on the New Payments Platform, Australia’s national infrastructure for fast payments. “This means near-instant trading opportunities for our crypto clients, as they can rapidly fund AUD into their BTC Markets account,” BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler told Cointelegraph, adding that in the …

One in six Australians now own cryptocurrency, with the total value of their holdings adding up to $8 billion, according to a recent survey. The full report of the Finder Consumer Sentiment Tracker was posted online on September 2. It is a monthly ongoing survey of 1000 nationally representative Australians conducted by Qualtrics. The most popular cryptocurrency in the country remains Bitcoin, with 9% of Australians currently hodling it. Around 8% of Aussies indicated that they own Ethereum, 5% own Dogecoin and Bitcoin Cash is held by 4% of the population. Researchers said they were surprised to find that 35% …

The central banks of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa have announced a joint initiative to trial international settlements using central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The initiative, dubbed Project Dunbar, will prototype shared platforms enabling direct transfers between institutions using digital currencies issued by multiple central banks. The pilot’s findings will be used to inform the “development of global and regional platforms” in addition to supporting the G20’s roadmap for improving cross-border payments. Project Dunbar will be carried out in partnership with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub from its Singapore Center. The project will engage multiple partners …