Australia introduces regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges

Cryptocurrency trading is expected to take a new turn in Australia, as the country’s new legislative guidelines or the operation of exchanges were put into effect on April 3.

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Jay Crypto

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Last updated Feb 22, 2023 at 04:28 PM

Posted Apr 4, 2018 at 04:50 PM

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Cryptocurrency trading is expected to take a new turn in Australia, as the country’s new legislative guidelines or the operation of exchanges were put into effect on April 3.

According to a report from Bitcoin News, the digital currency exchange businesses will, from now on, be required to register and comply with anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing laws.

Exchanges will be carefully watched

Cryptocurrency exchanges will report to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, as the institution has issued a document outlining the primary obligations of digital currency exchanges, considering the new guidelines put together by the country’s regulative apparatus.

But this is not everything, since, in addition to their efforts to fight money laundering and terrorism financing risks, exchanges must also “identify and verify the identities of their customers, keep certain records for seven years, and report suspicious matters and transactions involving physical currency of $10,000 or more to AUSTRAC.

Starting with April 3, a policy principles period, lasting six months, will be in place. During this time, the AUSTRAC CEO will be able to take enforcement action if a business fails to comply to the new regulations.

During this period, transitional registration arrangement will be made available to “existing businesses to allow them to continue providing services while their registration application being considered.” Basically, existing cryptocurrency exchanges will be required to register for transitional registration arrangement until May 14th.

Nobody should try escaping the regulations, by any means

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre issued a warning, revealing that unregistered provision of crypto exchange services will suffer “criminal offense and civil penalty consequences.”

Finally, we should also mention that the Australian Taxation Office just announced that they’re seeking public consultation from citizens, on how they should “approach specific tax events. Lately, they have been working at a legislation for the taxation of cryptocurrencies, stating that it has “launched a community consultation to help us understand practical issues experienced when complying with cryptocurrency tax obligations.”

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