Crypto license in Australia

Licensing regimeLast reviewed 2026-08-24

Do you need a crypto license in Australia?

Two answers, and the distinction matters. Running a digital currency exchange in Australia has always required AUSTRAC registration, which is free. A separate ASIC financial services licence becomes mandatory for platforms holding client assets when the Digital Assets Framework Act commences on 9 April 2027.

Read this before you plan an application

The licensing regime is enacted but not in force until 9 April 2027, and ASIC's no-action window for applicants closed on 30 June 2026. Any guide describing the ASIC licence as Australia's current requirement, or the no-action position as still open, is out of date.

Australia is midway through the largest change to its crypto rules since exchanges were first captured for anti-money-laundering purposes. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 passed Parliament on 1 April 2026 and received Royal Assent on 8 April, but it does not commence until 9 April 2027, an eighteen month runway deliberately built into the Act. Until then the live obligation is the one that already existed: registration with AUSTRAC as a digital currency exchange provider. Sources that describe the licensing regime as Australia's current steady state are describing something that has not started yet.

Regime: Licensing regime
Regulator: AUSTRAC and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Framework: Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act (2026)
Time to license: The Act commences 9 April 2027, and ASIC has published an implementation roadmap covering the period to that date. An AFS licence application is not a quick process, so a firm intending to hold client assets after commencement should already be in it.
Foreign owners: A foreign operator serving Australian customers is generally captured rather than exempt, both for AUSTRAC registration and, from commencement, for the licensing regime. Structuring offshore does not by itself put a platform outside the perimeter.

Two regulators, two different things

AUSTRAC handles anti-money-laundering. A digital currency exchange provider must be enrolled and registered with it, and that registration is free. This has been the position for years and it continues.

ASIC handles financial services licensing. The Digital Assets Framework Act extends the Australian Financial Services Licence regime to digital assets by creating two new categories of financial product: a Digital Asset Platform, meaning a facility where the operator holds digital tokens for clients, and a Tokenised Custody Platform, meaning a facility where the operator holds an asset other than money and issues one digital token per asset.

The dividing idea is custody. A platform that holds client tokens, or exercises control over them, is inside the new perimeter. One that never does is not.

The dates that decide what applies to you

The Act passed on 1 April 2026 and received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026. It commences on 9 April 2027. ASIC has published an implementation roadmap across that window.

ASIC also ran a no-action position for firms that needed to apply for a licence or a variation, and told providers to apply by 30 June 2026 before it expired. That deadline has passed. A firm that intends to operate a Digital Asset Platform and did not apply in that window should take advice on where it now stands, because the no-action comfort is no longer available to it.

What this means today

If you are launching now, you register with AUSTRAC now, and you build toward an AFS licence covering the digital asset product categories before April 2027. Treating the licence as optional because the Act has not commenced is a plan with a hard expiry date on it.

What to watch

The detail that will decide most business models is the exemption threshold for small operators, which is set in the regulations rather than the Act. Read the current instrument rather than a summary, because a threshold is exactly the kind of figure that moves between draft and commencement.

License classes in Australia

License classes, the activities each covers, and their fees and capital requirements where published.
Class	Covers	Fee	Capital
AUSTRAC registration	Digital currency exchange provider registration for anti-money-laundering purposes, required now	No fee	Not published
Digital Asset Platform (DAP)	A facility where the operator holds digital tokens for clients. An AFS licence authorisation from commencement on 9 April 2027	Not published	Not published
Tokenised Custody Platform (TCP)	A facility where the operator holds an asset other than money and issues one digital token per asset. An AFS licence authorisation from commencement	Not published	Not published

What the application requires

Australian company, or a registered foreign company carrying on business in Australia
AUSTRAC enrolment and registration as a digital currency exchange provider
An anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing programme
For the licensing regime: an AFS licence covering the digital asset product categories
Responsible managers meeting ASIC organisational competence requirements
Financial resource and custody obligations attaching to the AFS licence

The application process

Enrol and register with AUSTRAC
Required now for a digital currency exchange provider, and free
Determine whether you hold client assets
Custody or control of client tokens is what brings a platform inside the new licensing perimeter
Prepare the AFS licence application
Responsible managers, financial resources, compliance and custody arrangements
Apply to ASIC
Applications are assessed against the new digital asset product categories
Be licensed by commencement
The Act commences 9 April 2027 and the obligation bites from then

Costs and taxation

AUSTRAC registration is free. The AFS licence is where the money goes, and the real cost is the compliance and documentation build rather than a lodgement fee. ASIC publishes its own fee schedule and it is the smaller number.

The Australian company tax rate is 30 percent, or 25 percent for a base rate entity, which is broadly a company under the aggregated turnover threshold that derives most of its income from business rather than passive sources.

Who is licensed today

AUSTRAC maintains the public register of digital currency exchange providers, which is the list to check for a counterparty operating today. ASIC's register of AFS licensees becomes the one that matters once the Act commences.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to run a crypto exchange in Australia?

Today you need AUSTRAC registration, which is free. An ASIC financial services licence becomes mandatory for platforms holding client assets when the Digital Assets Framework Act commences on 9 April 2027.

When does the Australian digital assets law start?

It passed on 1 April 2026 and received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026, but it commences on 9 April 2027 after an eighteen month implementation period.

What is a Digital Asset Platform under the new Australian rules?

A facility where the operator holds digital tokens for clients. It is one of two new financial product categories, alongside a Tokenised Custody Platform.

Is AUSTRAC registration the same as an ASIC licence?

No. AUSTRAC registration is an anti-money-laundering obligation and is free. The ASIC licence is a financial services authorisation and is a much larger undertaking.

Did I miss the ASIC application deadline?

ASIC asked providers to apply by 30 June 2026 before its no-action position expired. That date has passed, so a firm that did not apply should take advice on its current position.

Sources

Buying bitcoin as an individual is a different question entirely: how to buy bitcoin in Australia covers exchanges, payment methods and legality for residents, and the crypto license hub compares every jurisdiction we track.