ASIC pushed the licensing deadline to Sept. 30 and expanded relief to authorized reps. The extension came after the High Court upheld the regulator's view that crypto products are financial products. Firms face further requirements under the 2027 Digital Asset Framework.
Alpha Score of 50 reflects weak overall profile with strong momentum, poor value, moderate quality, moderate sentiment.
Australia's corporate regulator gave crypto firms three more months to get licensed, pushing the temporary relief deadline to Sept. 30. The extension replaces the June 30 cutoff and now also covers companies operating through authorized representatives or intermediary arrangements with licensed entities.
ASIC said it received roughly 30 licence applications since October 2025, when it updated its digital asset guidance. Through Information Sheet 225, the regulator told the industry that many crypto products already count as financial products under Australia's existing, technology-neutral laws, which means providers typically need an Australian Financial Services licence – or, in some cases, market or clearing and settlement licences.
The licensing reprieve arrived days after Australia's High Court ruled unanimously against Block Earner, the Web3 Ventures subsidiary. The court found that Block Earner's former fixed-yield crypto product functioned as both a financial investment facility and a derivative under the Corporations Act, because investor returns depended on moves in underlying digital asset prices and exchange rates. The case now heads back to the Full Federal Court to decide penalties.
ASIC has stressed that the temporary relief is separate from the Digital Asset Framework Parliament passed in April and scheduled to take effect April 9, 2027. Under that framework, digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms will formally enter the licensing regime. ASIC warned in May that firms getting licences under INFO 225 may still need to add Digital Asset Platform and Tokenized Custody Platform authorisations once the new rules begin.
Australia is also weighing tax changes that could hit long-term crypto holders. The government proposed replacing the current 50% capital gains tax discount with an inflation-indexed model from July 1, 2027. Taxable gains would be adjusted for inflation instead of automatically receiving the discount after a one-year holding period. For investors who held through the 2021 bull run, the difference could be substantial.
For firms still working through the licensing process, the Sept. 30 deadline is the next hard stop. After that, companies without a pending application or authorized representative arrangement lose the no-action cover and operate at their own risk.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.