A company has launched a protocol enabling businesses to create tokens for real-world assets on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain, according to a news release published on May 27. Tokenized says asset types including shares, loyalty points, admission tickets and memberships are supported through its ecosystem — with the Australian firm placing an emphasis on offering a product that is regulation friendly. Documentation has been released to help those with little technical knowledge about tokenization to understand the platform’s features, and the company is urging businesses, governments and investors to get in touch to find out more. James Belding, the …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has warned the public that crypto project OneCoin “could be involved in a scam,” according to a notice released on May 28. The Australian financial regulator has issued an official warning against OneCoin, the entity operating under website onecoin.eu, urging the public to not deal with this company as it is not licensed in Australia. Similar to another warning concerning a different company published on May 21, the ASIC stated that OneCoin did not obtain two major licenses needed to offer investment services in the country. Specifically, the regulator noted that the company …

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT is going to run a follow-up study on blockchain regulations, according to a Yonhap News report on May 21. The study is called the “Blockchain Regulation Improvement Study Group” and is part of an initiative run by the government’s science and tech arm to figure out how regulations could be improved so that blockchain tech could achieve widespread institutional adoption. The Blockchain Regulation Improvement Study Group was launched in June of last year, and initially focused on improving legal regulations pertaining to blockchain tech such as personal privacy, smart contracts, electronic documents …

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued another warning on May 21 against an alleged crypto-related scam project. According to the report, the Australian financial regulator has today published a warning against an alleged scam entity dealing under two names, Dartalon Ltd and GFC Investments. The ASIC has red flagged the entity, reportedly claiming that the business “has made unsolicited calls or sent emails about investing, financial advice, credit or loans,” while it does not possess either an Australian Financial Services license or an Australian Credit license from the ASIC. According to Finance Magnates, the flagged website of …

An Australian government employee will reportedly face court today over his alleged misuse of government IT systems to mine cryptocurrency for personal gain. The news was announced by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on May 21. The AFP alleges that the 33-year old man, whose name was not disclosed, used his access as an IT contractor to “manipulate programs to use the processing power of the agency’s computer network for crypto currency mining.” The alleged profits from his illicit mining activities reportedly amounted to AU$9,000 (~$6,200). The man’s appearance before the Sydney Local Court follows an AFP search operation of …

Major Australian capital advisory firm PCF Capital Group has chosen permissioned blockchain ecosystem KoreConX for a $250 million digital securities offering. The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 14. PCF Capital is a corporate advisory firm with a focus on serving clients within the mining and resource sector, and has executed 120 mine divestment and project financing mandates for over $2 billion, according to the press release. KoreConX is reportedly a permissioned blockchain ecosystem for fully-compliant digital securities. It comprises a network of broker-dealers, secondary markets platforms and multiple jurisdictional securities lawyers, as well …

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay has launched trading services in Australia, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 7. Zebpay has expanded its trading services to Australia by opening a new office in the fintech hub of Melbourne. The exchange’s Australian customers are now able to trade across five fiat to crypto trading pairs including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), ripple (XRP), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC) both on desktop and Android and iOS apps. To conduct operations in Australia, Zebpay has acquired a license with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre — Australia's financial intelligence agency …

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has released the first code for its replacement app development tool based on blockchain, the company confirmed in a press release on May 7. The new platform, dubbed the Customer Development Environment (CDE), builds on the exchange’s previous offering, Chess, which will now be retired. The initial features, which hinge on distributed-ledger technology (DLT), began a rollout at the end of April, with ASX drip-feeding more to users in roughly two-month intervals before the platform is fully live next year. The scheme is a joint partnership with Digital Asset Holdings, the United States-based DLT firm …

Australia’s main opposition party would inject $3 million AUD ($2.1 million) into blockchain technology should it win next month’s federal election, tech news magazine ZDNet reported on May 1. Under plans previously outlined as part of its election pledges, the Australian Labor Party said it would divert the funds to set up a dedicated Blockchain Academy in the western city of Perth. “The Liberal government has failed to tackle major tech skills shortages that are holding back Australian businesses,” the publication quotes Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, Ed Husic, as saying. He adds: “Labor wants to address this, investing …

Australia’s tax agency, the Australian Tax Office (ATO), will seek to contact cryptocurrency traders personally about tax issues as part of a new data collection scheme, officials confirmed in a statement on April 30. The ATO, which is working in conjunction with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), says it will demand information on operations from local cryptocurrency exchanges. That data will then be used to contact traders involved, who will get a minimum of 28 days to explain their operations as they pertain to capital gains tax reporting. “The …

A 190% increase in cryptocurrency scams saw Australian consumers lose $6.1 million Australian dollars ($4.3 million) in 2018, according to a report released by the country’s Competition and Consumer Commission on April 29. The substantial rise from the AU$2.1 million ($1.48 million) lost in 2017 came despite an industry wide slump in cryptocurrency prices, with Australian authorities receiving 674 reports where crypto was used to pay scammers. Most of the victims were targeted by investment scams where they are encouraged to purchase digital currencies or asked to make crypto payments for access to forex trading, commodity trading and other investment …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is expanding its “Binance Lite” service to allow Australian residents to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) at newsagents, technology news outlet The Next Web reported on March 19. The new service Binance Lite — which will initially be introduced in Australia — is purportedly set to enable customers to buy digital currency with fiat money from more than 1,300 supported newsagents within the country. The service currently supports only the purchase of Bitcoin, although it will offer more digital currency and fiat options at a later date. Before using the service, customers are requested to pass account verification, …