Australia’s ASIC Releases Digital-Asset Guidance Supporting Innovation

ASIC stated in a press release that by the updated guidance it is providing firms with more certainty to innovate and investors with improved protections. Specifically, the regulator claimed that the below classes of digital-asset products are financial products for the purposes of law as it stands: stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenized securities and digital-asset wallets. ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said in the release: "Distributed ledger technology and tokenization are reshaping global finance. ASIC’s guidance provides the regulatory clarity that firms have been calling for to innovate confidently in Australia."

Under the new policy, ASIC says that the vast majority of widely traded digital assets are already considered to be within the definition of financial products and services under the Corporations Act 2001 and will continue to do so under the reforms to arrive. For companies dealing in digital assets, this would mean trading in such tokens could trigger an Australian financial services license requirement.

To give the industry time to transition, ASIC has issued a sector-wide "no-action" position until 30 June 2026. During that time, companies that are seeking licences can keep operating under certain conditions. At the same time, ASIC is also granting relief for issuers of some stablecoins and wrapped tokens, and custodians of digital assets which are financial products, to facilitate the switch to the new regime.

In supporting documents, ASIC credits its new guidance to its earlier consultation, CP 381, during which it solicited comments on draft changes to Information Sheet 225 (INFO 225) and licensing of digital-asset businesses. The regulator pointed out that digital-asset markets have evolved significantly since INFO 225 was first released in 2017. Drawing on its background notes, technological innovation, tokenisation of traditional assets and increasing consumer uptake have created a need for greater certainty with regard to whether digital assets are "financial products."

Timing also assists the Australian federal government and the Treasury's broader reform program for digital assets. During March 2025, the Treasury released its Statement on Developing an Innovative Australian Digital Asset Industry that outlines a four-pillar structure with frameworks for Digital Asset Platforms (DAPs) and payment-stablecoins. Legal commentators note that Australia is to advance new legislation that would shape the Corporations Act to regulate tokenized-custody platforms and digital-asset platforms explicitly.

For Australian digital-asset businesses, ASIC guidance brings both challenges and opportunities. Insofar as tokens are more precisely defined as financial products, the bar for licensing, compliance, disclosure and conduct obligations is raised. Operators like exchanges, wallet operators, token issuers and custodians are now more at risk of regulation if they don't have an AFSL or otherwise outside the approved model.

On the other hand, relief measures and the transition period illustrate ASIC's respect for innovation and reluctance to dampen new business models. The so-called "innovation-friendly" strategy aims to encourage legal certainty, which could spur investment, tokenisation of real-world assets and innovation in next-generation digital-asset services in Australia. Commissioner Kirkland's statement supports this two-fold goal of protection and innovation.

While the recommendation is a marked improvement, there are still several issues left to be resolved. The new INFO 225 (still in consultation with CP 381) is not final, so some of the particulars of the requirements and examples are still subject to change.

In addition, while the transitional relief alleviates the short-term pressure, the industry will still need to monitor the outstanding legislative developments, which may impose new obligations on platforms and custodian services that go beyond the current guidance outlines. It also remains to be seen how ASIC will interpret and enforce enforcement actions in transition, in particular with respect to token-types whose classification is unclear, such as non-yield bearing stablecoins, wrapped tokens, and certain utility tokens, and whether offshore-based providers can be brought sufficiently within Australian law.

For the investor-protection side, the recommendation would be that digital-asset services in Australia are brought within the ambit of analogous regulatory guidelines to "traditional" financial services. That may involve tighter levels of disclosure, better modes of resolving disputes, and more effective recourse avenues.

For INFO 225, consumers would be notified that protection would only be available where digital assets and services fall within financial-services regulation. For Australian retail investors, it is an added guarantee that using the term "unregulated" or "license-free" to describe digital-asset products is to convey greater risk. As ASIC's press release makes note of, "If you invest in something that is unlicensed or unregulated in Australia, it is harder to get help if things go wrong."

As the draft bill comes in 2025 and further reforms are on the horizon, Australia's digital asset regulatory environment is set for a dramatic period of change. For industry participants, the message is clear: do it now to assess licensing needs, review token categorizations, look ahead to compliance and engage with transitional relief regimes.

For investors, this translates to digital-asset products being looked at more and more through a familiar financial-services lens, complete with attendant protections and obligations. ASIC's update points out that innovation and investor protection are not mutually exclusive, they can coexist as complementary aims. As Australia aims to position itself as a responsible jurisdiction for digital-asset creation, arguably this guidance sets the stage for a more robust, more open and more innovation-supportive ecosystem.