In order to safeguard consumers from rogue actors in the area, the new legislative package will cover topics such as crypto custody, taxation, and DAO operations.
Senator Andrew Bragg, an Australian Liberal, kicked off the Australia Blockchain Week conference. He made a shocking legislative suggestion that he hopes will pave the way for a new Digital Asset ecosystem in Australia.
The Digital Services Act
Reforms to crypto market licensing are part of the planned Digital Services Act (DSA) legislation package. Custody, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), debanking, and taxation are also included.
Senator Bragg stated during the conference that he expects the Act’s laws to safeguard (crypto) customers from malicious operators.
Senator Bragg described the DSA’s four key pillars of guidance. The DSA, he added, will be technologically agnostic, with wide and flexible principles. It will be governed by a Minister rather than a bureaucratic body, and government resources and employees will be utilized.
Such guidelines, he believes, will assist Australia demonstrate that it is ready to play a larger role in the crypto business.
Bragg’s Challenge to the Government
The Senator also addressed DAOs, urging all parts of government to take them seriously. He also addressed DAOs, urging all parts of government to take them at face value. He even went so far as to say that, under current rules, they pose an existential threat to the revenue base.
According to figures given by the Australian Parliament, corporate tax is the government’s second-largest source of revenue, after income tax. DAOs, on the other hand, are not taxed in the same way that corporations are.
Senator Bragg responded by saying that his country’s reliance on corporate tax is unsustainable. If a growing number of organizations join the DAO, this becomes a possibility. As a result, the DSA would charge the government with developing a framework for developing DAO standards that does not suffocate its essential values.
Consumers would have use to audit, assurance, and disclosure services from DAOs under the guidelines. This allows them to differentiate between retail and wholesale businesses. Senator Bragg demanded that the Treasury Department fix the problems. At the same time, DAOs have a chance to continue to live true to their name.
Higher Standards for Crypto Industry
Michael Harris, the head of corporate development at Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, supports the government establishing stronger rules for the domestic crypto market. He said today that tighter criteria pose no threat to exchanges. Because most Australian exchanges already take their clients’ duty of care very seriously, this is the case.
Harris went on to say that Australia should be at the forefront of crypto legislation in the developed world. This is due to the fact that it has a high adoption rate. According to a poll done by pollster Finder between October and December 2021, 22.9 percent of Australians owned bitcoin.
Harris went on to say that they consider this a significant step forward. In the developed world, Australia has one of the highest rates of cryptocurrency usage. It’s only natural for us to take the lead on regulation.
The use of crypto by individuals and countries to bypass global economic sanctions has recently been one of the primary issues in the crypto market. The US Senate is currently debating whether or not the Russian government may continue to fund its military action in Ukraine using Bitcoin.
Elliptic, a blockchain tracking company, discovered on March 15 that certain sanctioned individuals are storing cryptocurrency. Senator Bragg, on the other hand, argued that the Australian government was powerless to punish criminals under the current Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) legislation. The DCE’s lack of authority prompted the new measures in order to prevent sanctioned individuals from exploiting slack crypto laws.
