February
Money laundering watchdog puts 50 Australian crypto exchanges on notice
The Australian Securities and Transactions Analysis Centre is concerned some Australian cryptocurrency exchanges are failing to report suspicious transactions.
January
Coalition channels Trump and says it will be a ‘friend’ of crypto
Luke Howarth, the Coalition’s financial services spokesman, said Labor’s failure to legislate rules had left ASIC calling the shots in the industry.
The top six business trends for 2025
Here are six themes we expect to make news in 2025, from professional services to crypto and artificial intelligence across offices, boardrooms and suburbs.
December 2024
ASIC’s attempts to clarify crypto rules confuses digital exchanges
Independent Reserve, BTC Markets and Kraken say new guidance and industry calls have not provided any clarity about whether they will need to obtain licences.
November 2024
A bitcoin convention in Sydney rings crypto alarm bells
Bitcoin is up almost 130 per cent this year and the US election result put a rocket under crypto. But there are still plenty of ways to lose money in an (unregulated) bull market.
ASX denies breaking law over CHESS status, relied on technology vendor
Exchange boss Helen Lofthouse said it is in the interests of the company and its shareholders for it to defend a case alleging misstatements about the project.
Ex-Westpac treasurer named to Imperium Markets advisory board
The new board will be headed up by Imperium chairman Rod Lewis, former Westpac treasurer Curt Zuber and former MBIA UK chairman and chief executive Chris Weeks.
October 2024
FinClear nabs licence that could threaten ASX’s monopoly
Regulators have cleared the way for the Magellan Financial-backed company to allow shares in private companies to be traded with blockchain technology.
Mark Carnegie pushes Circle’s USD Coin to Australia’s super funds
MHC Digital says USDC, which has a market cap of $50 billion, could be used by big institutional investors to bypass banks and save hundreds of millions of dollars.
September 2024
ASIC sets off the crypto fire alarm, Canberra will have to respond
Delegates to this week’s Summit pleaded for clarity about how digital assets are defined under corporate laws.
Blockchain revolution won’t wait for Labor to catch up
Blockchain needs to be regulated properly before more investors take the plunge. Yet, the Albanese government is still missing despite its earlier pledges.
Bitcoin is going mainstream. Can Australia join the party?
Twenty-thousand crypto believers descended on Singapore this week – and the companies they represented may surprise you.
RBA warms to its own digital currency – but only for other banks
The central bank says it could save billions of dollars by making transactions faster. But it has decided digital cash for the public is far riskier.
Bank profits are the price of trust, and bitcoin proves it
One way to think about part of the profits that banks make is that it’s the cost of providing trust. But first you need to understand how blockchains work.
June 2024
NAB kills its stablecoin, bankers decamp to form Ubiquity
The bank canned its digital Australian dollar, known as the AUDN, so Rob Waugh and Drew Bradford left to set up their own product, to be called Ubiquity.
May 2024
Technobabbling liar: Judge tears strips off Aussie’s bitcoin claims
A UK judge had already ruled that computer scientist Craig Wright was not bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto. But in an excoriating full judgment, he let rip.
March 2024
Australian Craig Wright did not invent bitcoin, UK judge rules
In a surprise snap verdict, an English judge said Wright was not bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, potentially ending almost a decade of fevered speculation.
January 2024
Bitcoin ETFs line up for ASX listing
The SEC’s final approval signals the arrival of cryptocurrency as a mainstream asset class that can be recommended by financial advisers, industry observers said.
Blockchain comes to bank wholesale deposits in bid to slash costs
Lenders will explore the ‘tokenisation’ of wholesale deposits to streamline capital raising processes in a pilot with Imperium Markets and the Digital Finance Co-operative Research Centre.
November 2023
ASIC ready to wield new power on ASX to force CHESS competition
The corporate regulator will move “very quickly” to make sure the new ASX clearing and settlement system allows in rivals.