Australia’s securities regulator has proposed a detailed capital, custody and trading framework for digital asset platforms ahead of a new licensing regime scheduled to begin in April 2027. The proposals would bring crypto trading and tokenized custody businesses into a financial-services framework covering asset segregation, settlement, conflicts of interest and minimum financial resources.
The official ASIC consultation package was released October 15, with comments open until November 27. Consultation Paper 392 implements the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on April 8 and takes effect on April 8, 2027. ASIC stresses that the standards remain preliminary and could change materially before final instruments are published in March.
The framework creates regulated Digital Asset Platforms, or DAPs, and Tokenised Custody Platforms, or TCPs. Existing operators falling within those definitions will have until October 7, 2027 to apply for a new or varied Australian Financial Services licence and may continue operating while ASIC assesses a timely application.
Capital Requirements Could Reach A$14 Million
ASIC is consulting on three alternative net tangible asset models rather than proposing one settled formula. Under the first model, an operator without qualifying third-party custody would need NTA equal to the greater of A$14 million or 10% of average revenue.
Operators satisfying third-party custody conditions would receive a substantial concession under all three models. Their requirement would generally be based on the greatest of A$200,000, 0.5% of average underlying assets up to an A$7 million cap, or 10% of average revenue. Other models introduce different thresholds depending on whether financial products are held and how the platform executes trades. ASIC is therefore consulting on risk-sensitive capital treatment rather than imposing a universal A$14 million minimum on every crypto platform.
The regulator is also proposing restrictions on conflicts created when exchanges trade against their own customers. Order-matching DAPs would generally be prohibited from principal trading on their own or related platforms, subject to defined exceptions for certain operating models. The aim is to separate venue operation from proprietary dealing where combining the two could create structural conflicts of interest.
Offshore Custody Remains Possible
ASIC has rejected, at least at the consultation stage, a blanket domestic-custody requirement. Digital assets could continue to be held through overseas arrangements, but operators would need to understand and document how foreign law affects client ownership, insolvency protection and asset recovery. ASIC also plans guidance requiring disclosure of custody locations and cross-border risks.
Platforms would face considerably more regulatory visibility into their blockchain infrastructure. ASIC proposes requiring DAP and TCP operators to retain records of wallet structures for at least seven years and submit quarterly lists of wallets and addresses holding client assets. The proposal explicitly excludes private keys, seed phrases, authentication credentials and other information capable of authorizing transfers.
Those requirements arrive as Australia’s crypto compliance perimeter is already tightening. AUSTRAC’s expanded rules for newly regulated virtual-asset services took effect on July 1, including Travel Rule obligations for covered transfers. The regulator has also intensified enforcement against providers that fail registration or AML standards, a trend already visible in AUSTRAC’s removal of 45 crypto and remittance businesses.
ASIC’s separate transition under existing financial-services law has also advanced. Its sector-wide no-action position expired on September 30, meaning firms already providing financial services involving digital-asset financial products can face enforcement risk if they require authorization and failed to satisfy the transition conditions. That existing licensing perimeter should not be confused with the new DAP/TCP regime beginning in April 2027.
The legislation forms part of a wider Australian effort to move tokenization from experimentation into regulated financial infrastructure, following concerns that unclear licensing could constrain the country’s potential tokenized-asset market and alongside broader digital-finance policy work outside Australia’s long-term economic outlook.
CP 392 therefore provides platforms with a clearer view of the likely 2027 operating framework without yet fixing its final parameters. Capital models, custody disclosures, wallet reporting and trading restrictions remain subject to consultation, with ASIC targeting final standards in March before the statutory regime begins the following month.
