The Australian National University (ANU)’s law school will roll out two new courses in its Masters program this year exploring the impact of blockchain on the legal field. The courses are being developed with the assistance of Ripple’s Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) — a program that seeks to collaborate with universities to examine emerging trends and developments in distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency and digital payments. ANU is offering courses examining the intersection between blockchain and law, as do a number of other Australian universities. The University of Melbourne and The University of Southern Queensland offer courses explicitly concerned with DLT …

Australian startup Meld Gold will launch a blockchain-based platform for tokenized gold trading in the third quarter of 2020. Meld Gold said the platform will offer a digital method to buy and sell physical gold that is more efficient and transparent than traditional gold markets. Unlike other gold-backed tokens, the issuer doesn’t have a stash of gold in its own custody — rather each token represents one gram of gold held across different companies in the network, including the Melbourne Mint. Meld Gold to launch platform on Algorand The original prototype platform was built on Ethereum (ETH) in mid-2019, but …

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has once again delayed its transition to the blockchain, due in part to uncertainty around the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In an announcement published on March 25, ASX said it was replanning its blockchain implementation timetable in light of the unfolding crisis, as well as because of issues that were under consideration prior to the outbreak. In June, the exchange will therefore seek user input to establish a new go-live date — which until now had been set for April 2021. Pandemic-driven volatility takes its toll As reported, the ASX has been developing …

Australian blockchain firm, Chrono Tech, has been experiencing difficulties securing a banking partner amid the launch of an Australian dollar (AUD)-pegged stablecoin earlier this month. The AUD Token (AUDT), available on Chrono Tech’s platform, can be redeemed 1:1 for Australian dollars held by a licensed Australian bank. However, as Chrono Tech’s CEO, Sergei Sergienko, reveals, securing a banking partner was not easy. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Sergienko discussed his company’s transition from planning a “labor hour token” to launching a stablecoin, and the regulatory and banking climates for crypto companies in Australia. Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks still hesitant to …

While some Australian authorities recognize cryptocurrencies as a form of investment, digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) are apparently not very popular as means of payment in the country. Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), says that less than 1% of Australians used cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to make a consumer payment in 2019. Australian consumers increasingly prefer to use electronic payment methods The data is based on RBA’s own study, conducted in October and November 2019. Released on March 19, the RBA’s latest report is the fifth comprehensive survey of consumer payments in Australia. The purpose of the …

Australian farmers are all too familiar with dry and erratic weather conditions affecting day-to-day business. Reports over the last 20 years demonstrate that these conditions will only worsen — with an increased climate estimated to have reduced yearly profits by 22%. The current bushfire season has had a disastrous impact on the agricultural industry. NASA mapping data estimated that 8.6 million sheep and 2.3 million cattle across New South Wales and Victoria were affected, and about 500,000 total livestock perished. While harsh temperature drops and intermittent rainfall provides an illusion that the worst is over, this is far from the …

Since coming to power back in 2016, President Trump seemed to have reinvigorated the United States stock market after it showed signs of slowing down throughout the first half of the previous decade. Just three weeks ago, the American market witnessed a combined gain of 58% compared with the last three or so years. However, following the World Health Organization’s recent declaration of the novel coronavirus pandemic on March 11 — with the independent research body citing 118,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths globally — this rosy picture seems to have reversed almost overnight. Additionally, ever since news of …

This week, the Australian authorities launched a major campaign to prompt as many as 350,000 crypto investors to comply with their tax obligations. In an interview with Cointelegraph on March 12, a spokesperson for the Australia Tax Office (ATO) said the campaign was designed to help raise awareness and give taxpayers “the opportunity to fix any mistakes” they may have made in reporting their capital gains on crypto trades. Encouraging voluntary compliance As of 2019, Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets have been defined as taxable forms of property under the ATO’s guidance framework. In sending letters to as many …

In the coming weeks, hundreds of thousands of Australian crypto investors are set to receive a reminder of their tax obligations from the country’s authorities. Citing an unnamed Australian Tax Office (ATO) representative, news.com.au reported on the forthcoming campaign on March 11. “Up to a million” Australians estimated to be buying or selling crypto In 2019, ATO had published its guidance framework on the taxation on cryptocurrencies, defining Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto-assets as taxable forms of property. In addition to this, the office published a Data Matching Protocol for cryptocurrency, which it uses to obtain transaction data from crypto …

Bittrex global has announced the introduction of new features on its platform, including credit card support, a referral program, and upgrades to its mobile app. Credit card support will see an initial roll-out to Bittrex Global users in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The exchange intends to launch credit card support for all international users in the future. Bittrex Global to support conditional orders on mobile app Users of Bittrex Global’s mobile app will soon be able to place conditional trade orders, such as stop-limit orders for risk management. Despite revealing a forthcoming referral program that will …

A whistleblower has revealed the existence of a 200-employee Ukrainian Bitcoin (BTC) trading scam that netted $70 million in 2019. The whistleblower outed the scam by providing footage and internal company documents to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, which reported the news on March 1. The scam predominantly targets investors based in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom by using fake news articles advertised on Facebook and some mobile game platforms. The stories feature interviews with celebrities who purportedly made a killing by investing in crypto — including Gordon Ramsey, Hugh Jackman and Martin Lewis. Ukrainian company Milton Group accused …

As part of a defamation case in front of the New South Wales, or NSW district court, Judge Judith Gibson allowed cryptocurrency usage as collateral. “This is a recognized form of investment," Gibson said of cryptocurrency, also acknowledging its volatility, according to a brief from the Australian Associated Press. The plaintiff vies for crypto usage As part of the defamation case, the NSW court stated the accusing party must place $20,000 AUD, or approximately $13,000 USD, in a bank account guarded by the courts. Should the accusing party lose or secede, the funds would pay for a portion of the …