Australia's parliament has passed a bill mandating cryptocurrency exchanges and custody providers to obtain a financial services licence. It brings digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms into Australia's financial services licensing system.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Tuesday that the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 passed both houses of Australia's parliament. Proposed in November last year, the bill amends the Corporations Act and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act (ASIC Act) to specify digital asset-related businesses as regulated entities. The bill sets out goals of strengthening consumer protection, market integrity and regulatory clarity.

The bill requires crypto businesses including exchanges and custody platforms to obtain an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the country's financial regulator. The bill awaits royal assent and will take effect 12 months after assent. It also provides an additional transition period for businesses to comply.

In an annex to an explanatory memorandum, the government added how the rules apply when digital tokens are effectively controlled through multi-party computation (MPC). The annex states that even under joint-control structures, the law applies only to platforms that actually hold customers' cryptocurrency, and does not apply when only technology that helps control is provided.

Jez Oswald, a former deputy director responsible for digital asset policy at Australia's federal treasury, welcomed the bill's passage and called it an important milestone in a post on LinkedIn. He said the government submitted additional material on the explanatory memorandum, and that it includes further details on the scope and criteria for applying the bill when digital tokens are effectively controlled through MPC.

The bill is seen as a move that makes clear Australia's direction of bringing the digital asset industry into the existing financial regulatory framework. Its actual impact is expected to depend on detailed implementation standards and the design of the transition period after royal assent, and balancing regulatory clarity with industry competitiveness is likely to remain a key task.