Australia's securities regulator opened a consultation on October 15 over how digital-asset platforms should hold customer assets, conduct trading and settlement, and meet financial requirements. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, or ASIC, published Consultation Paper 392 as it prepares to implement a law scheduled to begin on April 8, 2027. The standards in the paper are proposals, not obligations that have already taken effect.

What the consultation covers

The package contains draft guidance for digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms, along with proposed standards for asset holding, transactions and settlement, and operators' financial resources. ASIC says affected firms may need to apply for an Australian financial services licence or vary an existing one. Depending on their activities, they would also have to provide customer disclosures and platform rules and comply with the relevant operating standards.

Related reporting: SEC Proposes Crypto Custody Rules for Advisers and Funds

A digital asset platform, under the new framework, holds digital tokens for clients and provides associated platform services. A tokenised custody platform records underlying assets held for clients as digital tokens. Those definitions matter because the new regime is directed at platform operators and custody arrangements, not a blanket licensing requirement for every token or every person who owns cryptocurrency.

The proposed asset-holding rules are intended to address the safety of assets entrusted to a platform. The trading and settlement proposals focus on how transactions are handled. Financial requirements would set a baseline for operators' resources. ASIC's media release also says the guidance would explain how the framework interacts with existing financial-services licensees, market participants, payments providers and other businesses dealing with digital assets.

An enacted law, but unfinished details

Parliament has already passed the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026. What ASIC published Thursday is the next implementation step: draft guidance and preliminary instruments for comment. ASIC explicitly warns that the final legal instruments may change considerably. The distinction is important for firms planning systems and budgets, and for customers trying to understand what protections are available now versus after the new framework begins.

ASIC says it is consulting in parallel with regulatory design work still being developed by the Australian government. It is also considering a streamlined licensing route for existing Australian financial services licensees and some firms that sought authorisation under its earlier digital-assets guidance. The regulator has recorded more than 140 applications from businesses seeking to provide digital-asset-related financial services, including more than 110 submitted during the temporary no-action period that ended September 30. Those figures cover applications, not approvals.

Who is affected and what comes next

Exchange and custody operators have the clearest reason to review the draft standards, while payment companies and conventional financial firms using tokenised arrangements may need to assess whether particular activities bring them within scope. Users could ultimately benefit from clearer disclosure and asset-handling requirements, but the consultation itself does not certify any platform as safe or change the status of a particular token.

ASIC will accept submissions until 5 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time on November 27. Industry feedback could alter the scope or detail of the standards before they are finalised. Independent reporting by CoinDesk describes the consultation as a push toward stronger safeguards for exchanges and custodians ahead of the 2027 commencement date. The immediate development, however, is an invitation to comment—not the activation of those proposed rules.

Sources

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