The upper legislative arm in Australia is set to approve a crypto bill after a committee review. As reported, the Senate Committee on Economics today communicated with Senator Andrew Bragg, the sponsor of “The Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023,” to make some amendments. More so, the Senate indicated its willingness to approve the bill by early 2024.
More so, among the required amendments for the passage of the bill is the removal of NFTs under the category of regulated virtual assets. Further, the legislators mandated that tokens backed by assets like Gold and Silver should be excluded from the classification of stablecoins. In its recommendation, the Senate Committee requested for the extension of the transition period from three to nine months.
Insights into the provision of the bill
The committee in its recommendation beseeched the Board of Taxation to reposition its policies towards the tax treatment of virtual assets in Australia. The lawmakers recommended that the Aussie government should fully adopt the proposals of the Council of Financial Regulators for policy formulation regarding how banks are limiting their services to crypto firms in Australia.
This recommendation further highlights the concerns of the Australian Department of the Treasury relating to the future of the crypto landscape in Australia. Previously, the Treasury Department revealed that the limitation of baking services to crypto firms could affect the indsutry’s growth. Also, the committee admitted that the existing approach by the government to the crypto landscape is affecting investors.
Meanwhile, the submission of the committee’s review of the bill came later than expected. Initially, the committee scheduled to submit its report early last month. However, the committee requested an extension on two occasions before making the submission today.
How Senator Andrew Bragg has emerged as pro-crypto Lawmaker in Australia
Recall that Senator Andrew Bragg introduced the bill in March 2023. The bill, according to the legislator, surfaced in a bid to protect investors and promote the growth of the industry. It is worth mentioning that the introduction of the bill represents the first serious attempt towards regulating crypto in Australia. Senator Andrew Bragg in recent times has championed the push for the regulation of cryptocurrency in Australia.
In late 2022, the lawmaker proposed a bill relating to the regulation of stablecoin in the country. According to Binbits, Senator Andrew Bragg proposed the bill to help Australia keep up with the global efforts of regulating cryptocurrency and stablecoins.