The Digital Assets in Australia report highlights the need for Australia to be a leader in responsible and trusted digital assets innovation.
What are digital assets?
Digital assets – such as private stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDC), tokens and cryptocurrencies, supported by complementary innovations such as blockchain and Web 3.0 – are a collection of technologies that enable digital representations of value to be transferred, stored and traded electronically.
Benefits of digital assets
Tech Council CEO Kate Pounder said these technologies can offer real benefits to Australian businesses and consumers by making transactions easier, better and safer, but we need to put the right safeguards in place to protect consumers and financial stability.
“Digital assets have the potential to transform the way Australians transact and interact, from real-time payments and instant settlement of business loans to better supply chain tracking and secure digital identities,” Ms Pounder said.
“Australia has an opportunity to be a leader in the responsible use of these technologies, building on our long history of financial and payments innovation and our position as a regional financial hub with effective financial institutions, tech-savvy consumers and a successful RegTech sector.”
The report was launched today in Parliament House with TCA Board Director Anthony Eisen and Hon Stephen Jones, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services both speaking at the event.
Government has a key role in regulating and enabling responsible innovation
“We want to see Australia capture the economic opportunities of digital assets, but we want to see it done in a responsible way.”
“The downturn in the digital assets market and the collapse of FTX have demonstrated the need for regulation that protects consumers and promotes financial stability, while driving innovation and growth.”
“The Tech Council welcomes the Australian Government’s moves to regulate digital assets exchanges and custody arrangements, and stands ready to work collaboratively with the Government to get our settings right.” Ms Pounder said.
Despite recent volatility in digital assets globally, the report highlights that with the right regulatory and policy settings, the digital assets sector could add up to $60 billion per year to Australia’s economy by 2030.
Report highlights
The report recommends the development of a principles-based regulatory framework, with clear objectives to support responsible digital assets innovation, unlock the economy-wide benefits of digital assets technology, promote financial and digital inclusion, protect businesses and consumers, and support financial stability.
The report also highlights the need to invest in the enabling skills and infrastructure that will support a digital assets sector, including by providing incentives for renewable-powered data centres to be established in Australia.
“Australia is already an attractive destination for investment in data centres, but we have an enormous opportunity to position ourselves as a regional hub for green data centres, which can support the sustainable growth of tech activity,” Ms Pounder said.
“Other countries in our region such as Singapore are much more constrained by their land size and renewables capacity, which creates an opportunity for Australia to capture more of this growing market.” Ms Pounder said.
The report also highlights the role for Government in adopting a simple token classification framework, more clearly articulating the tax treatment of digital assets, piloting a central bank digital currency and adopting digital assets in aspects of government service delivery to improve outcomes for Australian citizens.
The report was authored by Accenture and commissioned by the Tech Council of Australia.
About the Tech Council
The Tech Council of Australia is the peak industry body for Australia’s tech sector. With over 160 members, the Tech Council comprises the full spectrum of tech companies. The Tech Council has three goals:
- Employ 1.2 million people in tech jobs by 2030
- Contribute $250bn to GDP from tech-related activity by 2030
- Make Australia the best place to start and scale a company
Media enquiries
Sofia Polak
media@techcouncil.com.au
0434 275 449
