ASIC sets draft rules for Australian crypto platforms

Australia’s securities regulator ASIC opened consultation on draft licensing, custody and trading standards for digital asset and tokenised custody platforms on 15 October, setting out how the new laws could work in practice before they take effect in April 2027. The ASIC announcement says its package covers guidance, asset-holding and transactional standards, and financial requirements. The proposals are not final: ASIC says the attached draft legal instruments are illustrative and may change considerably.

The consultation implements the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, which brings digital asset platforms (DAPs) and tokenised custody platforms (TCPs) into the financial services framework. DAPs hold customers’ digital tokens and provide related platform services; TCPs record underlying assets held for clients as tokens. ASIC’s Consultation Paper 392 was released alongside draft guidance and three proposed standards instruments.

What would platforms have to do under the proposals?

Operators would need to apply for or vary an Australian financial services licence, provide customer disclosures and platform rules, and meet relevant asset-holding, trading and settlement, and net tangible asset requirements, ASIC says. Its proposed custody standards would address segregation of customer assets from operator assets, recordkeeping and reconciliation, security, service-provider oversight, and customers’ ability to withdraw tokens from a platform.

For trading and settlement, ASIC is considering requirements for fair and orderly platform operation, execution practices such as best execution, pre- and post-trade price transparency, listing criteria, and monitoring for market abuse. It also proposes standards for suspicious-activity reporting, operational resilience, settlement arrangements and recordkeeping. Financial requirements are expected to include a liquidity measure, a net tangible assets requirement and regular review by a registered company auditor; ASIC has not set a single capital figure in the material announcing the consultation.

The proposed standards could be adapted to different business models, including custody-only operators, brokers, market makers and platforms that match orders. That flexibility matters because a platform that holds assets without running a trading venue faces a different operational profile from one that executes or matches trades, even if both fall within the new framework.

How does this change the position before the new regime?

ASIC says existing financial services law already applies to many digital assets, and its INFO 225 guidance has explained how firms may need a licence under those rules. The new framework sets out dedicated categories for DAPs and TCPs, while this consultation proposes the operational standards that would sit around them. ASIC is also proposing streamlined licence variations for existing licensees and firms that applied for authorisation under INFO 225.

The transition has already drawn more than 140 applications from businesses seeking to provide digital asset-related financial services, ASIC says, including more than 110 during the sector-wide no-action period that ran from October 2025 to 30 September 2026. That relief has ended, so the implementation proposals arrive as firms move from interim treatment toward licensing under the new framework. The regulator says it will continue stakeholder events and targeted roundtables; it also notes that government is developing related regulatory design work in parallel.

What should firms and customers watch next?

Submissions close at 5pm AEDT on 27 November 2026. The next signals are whether ASIC changes the draft custody and trading standards after feedback, how it settles liquidity and net tangible assets requirements, and how the parallel government work fits with the final rules. ASIC’s announced timetable points to the framework beginning in April 2027, with licensing and supervision shifting into the new regime. Until the drafts are final, firms will need to plan around proposals that may still change.

Sources and documents

• ASIC announcement — asic.gov.au
• Consultation Paper 392 — asic.gov.au