To protect consumers, Australia has introduced new regulations for cryptocurrenc

[adultcrypto]

Like it or not, that might happen in the future, where the government will increasingly tighten its regulations to "protect consumers" from scamming.

I don't know how government will achieve this in decentralized exchanges. Government tightening regulations is only feasible in centralized exchanges where they have the bio data of those who signup in those exchanges. A case where many businesses start accepting cryptocurrency, which is where we are going, many people will not need fiat anymore and will rather pay for goods and services with cryptocurrency and this will further make it difficult for government and the regulators to hinder or interfere in the use of cryptocurrency.  

[macson]

Even though the steps taken by the Australian government are very good, they are reportedly trying hard to control crypto transactions that occur in Australia.

On the one hand, regulation can provide clarity and stability to the crypto industry. Thus, making it more accessible to investors and boosting mainstream adoption. It can also protect consumers from fraudulent or illegal activities and prevent money laundering and other criminal activities.

[1]
Reportedly they will also ban Monero and Zcash from there, but i'm not sure they will be able to do that considering the majority of crypto users really like with anonymity.  Crypto investors from Australia are obliged to respond to this policy, i am sure that when this rule is enforced strictly, more and more crypto investors will transact via P2P.

[Japinat]

They choose a good words which is "protecting consumers" it show if they're a good government, while actually their reason is to "control" their citizensso they can track how much the wealth of their citizens and tax it.

There's nothing will change, the exchanges will still accept those shitcoins and Australian government will only say "cryptocurrency is a high risk investment, do with cautious".

Is the government willing to recover the consumers' losses? nope.

In reality, no government is good for cryptocurrency consumers because it all comes down that people are using crypto to be free from the government, from its rules and regulations. So in this case, it's like the government is only using the crypto consumers safety net just to create a positive image towards the people who are very enthusiastic with crypto. And we are not fool enough to believe on this. It's clear that majority of the governments are still not in favor with the existence of cryptocurrency and if they won't be able to get rid of it completely, then at least they will try to regulate it so that crypto users will still be traceable in all their transactions. That way, if they can't control the existence and progress of cryptocurrency, at least they can control their citizens on their crypto activities.

[Captain Corporate]

For the life of me I never end up trusting governments when its about things like this, I just end up trying to find some conspiracy theories in order to make it not make sense at all. Sure "a government put regulations on exchanges to protect the customers" sounds like a normal thing but we are so not used to normal things that I end up thinking that we could be maybe seeing something much larger at play. Something like these regulations require some sort of payment to government to check it or maybe it requires them to pay more taxes because they are labeled differently and all that, I keep trying to see if there is an angle of it where government gets away with something.

[BenCodie]

If Australia continues in the direction they are going, it will be only a matter of time before the very essence of Bitcoin is defeated in that country. From records, Australian government is fond of interfering with virtually everything... from forex brokerage to online casinos, they practically want to control how their citizens partake in anything. They do this by placing limits on how much an individual can deposit irrespective of how much the individual is worth with their reason being that the citizens are loosing more than they are winning. There was even news of them planning to ban some crypto-based casinos... I don't remember if this scaled through.

While this might seem like watching out for their citizens, if you look deeper, it is control in disguise.

I have done some reading after your post and to an extent, you are right. From my research there are two ways that Australia can go with Cryptocurrency vs. Their proposed digital money systems.

Firslty, they can simply keep up with innovation, not stifle it and also maintain a level of freedom.

However, Australia has the stance that cryptocurrency is competing currency...and with this ideology, their best interest seems to be that they want to eventually eliminate the Australian onramps to the ecosystem. From what I've gathered, this is something that they are aiming to do in the next 5 years, as they update their money system up to a blockchain standard.

It's interesting how they portray their news and then what you find when you dig a little deeper. I will say that it does seem quote sinister to completely eliminate cryotocurrency from their country. I suppose it's one way to get rid of a superior competing currency though. I'm interested to see what happens next there...

I'm glad you are able to corroborate on my earlier submission;  I have been following Australian government policies for a while and I know how they subtly bring regulations that look good on the surface but with clandestine motives that is not far from control and censorship. Several companies that I know have been badly hit by such rules and those that have their headquarters there have to make changes to their conditions of service that it even affected those outside Australia.

I know they will have a hard time with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general considering that many people are opting for DEX over CEX. Well, in the near future, many things will become clearer.

If it is one thing I know it is that privacy is under attack in western countries including Australia, so after reading your rationale, it made sense that then the positivity in the news was actually smoke and mirrors, behind something that may lead to more censorship and control. Hopefully for the citizens, it does not get bad.

Australia have always been an interesting country to watch when it comes to the regulations of cryptocurrency.

Very interesting, especially their Covid policies were made with respect to human rights and all that

It's good to see that a western country is not trying to stifle growth or innovation, but is trying to protect its consumers. Of course we all prefer complete freedom, though it does seem like they are at least trying to keep the scales somewhat balanced.

I'll give you some interesting facts about this "regulation."

The RBA and Treasury will also publish a “stocktake” on their research into a central bank digital currency by “around the middle of 2024” and then “set out a roadmap for future work”.

They actually do want it, just trying to make it look like they want to protect people.
Protect from what?

The deal is to slow down the crypto industry, make businesses apply for paid licenses that take time to obtain and fills the government's pockets while they work on CBDC.
Australia is not a country that has your own good in mind and they showed it during the pandemic, just like Canada showed it during the protests.

Hmm definitely some food for thought here. I know the west ultimately want a CBDC to scale fiat and print with clicks instead of a printer, it's true that the pandemic was a good indicator of that...lots went printed.

I have actually heard in an online community that Binance recently have let go of the vast remainder of their employees in the Australian base as of recently, after they have already been doing so throughout the year there and around the world. I wonder if the two scenarios are correlated.

Completely unrelated
Australia only wants to help them grow...

Their HQ is closing down there I believe. So it doesn't look like it. From Australia's actions against Binance this year, firstly stopping withdrawals and the tightening regulation to eliminate Binance from the country, does not come across looking like that they want Binance to grow....quitee contrary.

[Kasabus]

The good side is that more governments are understanding cryptocurrencies and are focusing on the big platforms instead of trying to ban Bitcoin.
The good side is that users will get better exchanges and there is less possibility of being scammed.
The downside is that you have to provide more data, and this may reduce the privacy of many customers, in addition to accepting Bitcoin may mean imposing taxes on it.

In general, let us read these new regulations and decide whether they are good or bad, but in general, they are good because many people consider Bitcoin an investment.

Well, regulating cryptocurrency exchanges is obviously better than simply banning the existence of crypto and its exchanges. And Australian government has been more open minded about crypto unlike other countries government that refuse to accept bitcoin and just turn it down without trying to understand that some of  their citizens are also in crypto investment. However, the fact that any government would want to centralized everything so that they can take control on everything that exists, then this is just like Australian government is wearing a mask just to look good on their people when all they want is not to legally adopt crypto, but to take control on their people's crypto assets so they can tax it depending on the amount they are hodling. Because in reality, government regulations are not just for the citizens to benefits, but its a vice versa wherein the government also benefits when their citizens are benefiting.

[nullama]

For the life of me I never end up trusting governments when its about things like this, I just end up trying to find some conspiracy theories in order to make it not make sense at all. Sure "a government put regulations on exchanges to protect the customers" sounds like a normal thing but we are so not used to normal things that I end up thinking that we could be maybe seeing something much larger at play. Something like these regulations require some sort of payment to government to check it or maybe it requires them to pay more taxes because they are labeled differently and all that, I keep trying to see if there is an angle of it where government gets away with something.

Yes, it is very annoying to see that banks are basically telling you how you can use your own money.

They have restrictions such as $1k per month to be used for exchanges, etc.

It is insane that they just come up with these numbers and block what you can do with your own money.

CBDCs are being tested these days, and they will probably be implemented in a few years.

[Fundamentals Of]

This is positive news. It seems the regulations are friendlier than other country's. Australia seems open-minded as to the development of cryptocurrency. Although there are worries that these new regulations might categorize cryptocurrency institutions together with traditional financial institutions, I think the common ground is consumer protection. Everybody should be equally protected from the banks as well as from centralized exchanges.

El Salvador is more friendlier since they accept Bitcoin as a legal tender.

Banks aren't give any protection to their customers, they're only making a promise and you need to rely with their promise. As you know human is complex and can change their mind so fast, I don't be surprised if they said they will protect their customers, but tomorrow they will disappear.

Ah yes of course, El Salvador is special in the sense that it treats Bitcoin like a king. It didn't just recognize it as an alternative currency, it made it a legal tender.

In fairness, crypto projects and crypto companies can more easily pull the rug than banks. That's the reality. Banks are heavily regulated but crypto projects are not. That's why they need regulating as well. In the short time that we're dealing with crypto, we're already losing count of the different scams that victimized a lot of people all over the world.

[Blitzboy]

The good side is that more governments are understanding cryptocurrencies and are focusing on the big platforms instead of trying to ban Bitcoin.
The good side is that users will get better exchanges and there is less possibility of being scammed.
The downside is that you have to provide more data, and this may reduce the privacy of many customers, in addition to accepting Bitcoin may mean imposing taxes on it.

In general, let us read these new regulations and decide whether they are good or bad, but in general, they are good because many people consider Bitcoin an investment.

Well, regulating cryptocurrency exchanges is obviously better than simply banning the existence of crypto and its exchanges. And Australian government has been more open minded about crypto unlike other countries government that refuse to accept bitcoin and just turn it down without trying to understand that some of  their citizens are also in crypto investment. However, the fact that any government would want to centralized everything so that they can take control on everything that exists, then this is just like Australian government is wearing a mask just to look good on their people when all they want is not to legally adopt crypto, but to take control on their people's crypto assets so they can tax it depending on the amount they are hodling. Because in reality, government regulations are not just for the citizens to benefits, but its a vice versa wherein the government also benefits when their citizens are benefiting.

The existence of cryptocurrency cant be ignored. Yes, it is good that the Australian government isnt completely rejecting it like some others. But lets go into more detail. Sometimes there's more to the story than what the government says when they "regulate." Control is a powerful draw. On the surface, it looks like they're on board with crypto, but control and taxes could be the real goal.

But let us look at it from a different angle. The world of crypto is very big and can be dangerous at times. Governments may want a piece of the crypto pie, but these rules could also protect regular investors from the less honest parts of the world. As always, though, the important thing is to know and ask why every choice was made. As you correctly pointed out, its almost never a one-sided deal. No matter if its real or artificial, every coin has two sides.

[darkangel11]

Hmm definitely some food for thought here. I know the west ultimately want a CBDC to scale fiat and print with clicks instead of a printer, it's true that the pandemic was a good indicator of that...lots went printed.

I tend to think that goventments usually don't want to give us any power or freedom. They focus on a number of things and none of them are for our good:
-holding power
-making money
-securing borders

They don't care about you. You're just a worker ant that does all these things. You make them money by paying taxes, secure borders by being a soldier and allow them to hold power by obeying their laws.

I have actually heard in an online community that Binance recently have let go of the vast remainder of their employees in the Australian base as of recently, after they have already been doing so throughout the year there and around the world. I wonder if the two scenarios are correlated.

Completely unrelated
Australia only wants to help them grow...

Their HQ is closing down there I believe. So it doesn't look like it. From Australia's actions against Binance this year, firstly stopping withdrawals and the tightening regulation to eliminate Binance from the country, does not come across looking like that they want Binance to grow....quitee contrary.

I was trying to be sarcastic, hence the smile.
You're of course right, this is related, and that's what I was trying to say there.

[Forever101]

They choose a good words which is "protecting consumers" it show if they're a good government, while actually their reason is to "control" their citizensso they can track how much the wealth of their citizens and tax it.

There's nothing will change, the exchanges will still accept those shitcoins and Australian government will only say "cryptocurrency is a high risk investment, do with cautious".

Is the government willing to recover the consumers' losses? nope.

Your answer is logical and I believe it 80%, that might actually be there reasons. We can not tell but let's see how far this regulations will go. If they are doing this with good intentions, it's a welcome development but if it is for the sake of countroling the wealth of the citizen then it will further make it difficult to use.

[BenCodie]

Hmm definitely some food for thought here. I know the west ultimately want a CBDC to scale fiat and print with clicks instead of a printer, it's true that the pandemic was a good indicator of that...lots went printed.

I tend to think that goventments usually don't want to give us any power or freedom. They focus on a number of things and none of them are for our good:
-holding power
-making money
-securing borders

They don't care about you. You're just a worker ant that does all these things. You make them money by paying taxes, secure borders by being a soldier and allow them to hold power by obeying their laws.

I completely agree with that. It does depend how you want want to look at it though, as government are people too. If we are heading toward a utopian world, maybe the actions are for the better. If we aren't, maybe you are right. Either way I do agree that ultimately power of people and loss of a kind of freedom come with both the utopian and dystopian world where a government both exists and played a major role in the outcome.

I have actually heard in an online community that Binance recently have let go of the vast remainder of their employees in the Australian base as of recently, after they have already been doing so throughout the year there and around the world. I wonder if the two scenarios are correlated.

Completely unrelated
Australia only wants to help them grow...

Their HQ is closing down there I believe. So it doesn't look like it. From Australia's actions against Binance this year, firstly stopping withdrawals and the tightening regulation to eliminate Binance from the country, does not come across looking like that they want Binance to grow....quitee contrary.

I was trying to be sarcastic, hence the smile.
You're of course right, this is related, and that's what I was trying to say there.

Haha, I suppose I missed the memo. I'm in agreement with you then

[tygeade]

I completely agree with that. It does depend how you want want to look at it though, as government are people too. If we are heading toward a utopian world, maybe the actions are for the better. If we aren't, maybe you are right. Either way I do agree that ultimately power of people and loss of a kind of freedom come with both the utopian and dystopian world where a government both exists and played a major role in the outcome.

Governments are not doing anything that would lower their own power, that is the problem. It is not about getting power from you, it is not about making you less powerful, that is not the point to be fair, it is to keep themselves powerful.

Obviously one way of doing that would be lowering your power and freedom, it is not a must, but it does benefit them, if they could give you some freedom and power while giving themselves even more, they would prefer that too so it is not about you all the time. In this case, Australia had no good reason to do this but they did it anyway, why? Who knows, they just wanted to get some power from the people and that's it, nothing really too complicated when governments want more power for themselves.

[wallet4bitcoin]

The Australian government is introducing new rules for cryptocurrency exchanges to protect consumers.
Exchanges with a lot of money will need a license and must follow financial service laws. These rules aim to ensure transparency and safety in the crypto market.
They are also considering more regulations for exchanges in the future. Tokens used in gaming and NFTs won't be affected.
The government wants to balance consumer protection with innovation in blockchain technology and digital tokens.

Source:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/australian-crypto-industry-treasury-proposals-step-forward-slow-regulation
https://cryptoslate.com/australia-to-introduce-crypto-regulation-mandating-licenses-for-crypto-exchanges/

 I applaud countries with the intent of protecting the citizens and the businesses that falls within its jurisdiction, irrespective of the newness of the technology being deployed or the innovation being introduced.

Although technology has become the new wave of making life easy and things being done faster and better, governments have decided to strangle these innovation since it poses a threat to their constituted authorities. Australia has done weill for its citizens, from the consumer perspective.

[BenCodie]

I completely agree with that. It does depend how you want want to look at it though, as government are people too. If we are heading toward a utopian world, maybe the actions are for the better. If we aren't, maybe you are right. Either way I do agree that ultimately power of people and loss of a kind of freedom come with both the utopian and dystopian world where a government both exists and played a major role in the outcome.

Governments are not doing anything that would lower their own power, that is the problem. It is not about getting power from you, it is not about making you less powerful, that is not the point to be fair, it is to keep themselves powerful.

Obviously one way of doing that would be lowering your power and freedom, it is not a must, but it does benefit them, if they could give you some freedom and power while giving themselves even more, they would prefer that too so it is not about you all the time. In this case, Australia had no good reason to do this but they did it anyway, why? Who knows, they just wanted to get some power from the people and that's it, nothing really too complicated when governments want more power for themselves.

The thing that people misinterpret about government is that it's people who are within it, but not the same people who are the same ones who come up with the decisions. Government itself could actually be a democratic and potentially even decentralized entity, however due to the dark and misinformed age behind us, it has been manipulated by powerful interests, as have the people within it.

Government need reform around the globe in order for it to work properly again. Until then, it is an entity that is against the people ultimately.

We can only hope that the decisions made by the Australian government relating to cryptocurrency (and other decisions against the people's interests and other governments who make decisions similarly) are doing it because of ignorance. The reason ignorance is preferred over intentional, is that ignorance is easier to recognise and undo later in time. Unfortunately either way, these things are hard to reverse until bad things happen that prompts a need for change.