AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Steven Pettigrove, Katrina Sharman, Luke Higgins and William Deeb, Piper Alderman
Piper Alderman Level 23 Governor Macquarie Tower 1 Farrer Place Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Tel: +61 02 9253 9999 Email: piperalderman@piperalderman.com.au Web: www.piperalderman.com.au
1. Overview of Blockchain and Crypto- Assets 1.1 Blockchain 1.1.1 Evolution of Uses of Blockchain Developments Australia’s blockchain market has shifted from activ- ity largely focused on start-ups and exchange-based ecosystems to a framework that seeks to integrate blockchain products and services into traditional financial market infrastructure. This evolution has been driven by significant developments in the treat- ment of digital assets and by increasing alignment among government, regulators and industry on the value of digital finance and tokenisation. In particular, the last 12 months saw the passage of the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Frame- work) Act 2026 (Cth) (DAF Act), which introduced a tailored framework for digital asset platforms and cus- tody providers and aligns blockchain-based activities more closely with existing financial services law. The result is a growing convergence between blockchain systems and traditional finance. Australian Use Cases Current use cases in the Australian market are con- centrated in areas such as stablecoin payment rails, tokenisation and decentralised finance (DeFi): • Stablecoin payments make up a growing pro- portion of the blockchain transaction volume in Australia, primarily targeting rapid cross-border transactions;
• Project Acacia, a joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, which seeks to explore how digital money can support wholesale financial markets through tokenised assets and digital settlement models; it involves more than 20 real-world use cases testing assets such as bonds and carbon credits, using settle- ment instruments like stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). The final report for Project Aca- cia was released in May 2026 and outlined the key benefits and challenges tokenisation presents for the Australian market; and • Australia has a vibrant developer ecosystem and has incubated or contributed to the establishment and development of many well-known DeFi pro- jects, including trading, bridge, staking and gaming applications. Near-Term Outlook The near future sees a growing industry focus on custody infrastructure and platform design as firms prepare to operate within Australia’s new regulatory perimeter. The next 12 months will be driven by regu- latory implementation and operational scaling, with many digital asset businesses assessing whether they require an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) or a variation and lodging applications to rely on the Australian Securities and Investments Com- mission (ASIC) transitional no-action relief for certain unlicensed digital asset services where an application is submitted by 30 June 2026. The new regulatory framework will require a significant uplift in govern- ance, licensing and custody arrangements, while
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