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Binance decides to pull the plug on futures and options trading in Australia

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One of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance has been undergoing extreme scrutiny from regulators across the globe. The regulatory pressure surrounding the exchange has been surging by the day. This has further pushed the exchange to shut shop in several parts of the world. Australia was the latest country to lose certain services of Binance.

The crypto-verse has been subject to heat from regulators despite being known for its decentralized nature. Governments have started to pry into the crypto industry just as its demand began to surge. Binance recently had a major fallout with not just one regulator, but with regulators from several different regions. As the exchange continues to put in place better compliance methods, it was seen pulling the plug on various services it offers.

In a recent announcement, the exchange revealed that it would no longer offer futures and options trading services to its Australian customers by the end of this year. In a detailed post, Binance noted that Australian users would be given a period of 90 days to reduce and close their positions on derivative offerings.

Binance Australia to end derivatives offerings by December

The exchange noted that it intends to comply with the regulations put forth by the Australian government. In order to do so, the exchange would be discontinuing futures, options as well as leveraged tokens services in the country.

With a total of 90 days starting from 24 September 2021, Australian users would not be able to reduce or close their positions post 23 December 2021. Any positions that exist after this date would be closed automatically.

Additionally, during this period, Aussie users would still have access to certain services like being able to top-up margin balances to avoid liquidations and margin calls. However, the option of increasing or opening up new positions would not be allowed.

A spokesperson from the exchange reportedly stated,

“We proactively review our product offerings and activities on an ongoing basis, against user demand, evolving regulatory requirements, and future opportunities, to determine changes and improvements.”

The exchange clearly seemed to be enduring immense loss following the hold on an array of its services in its numerous branches. Recently CZ even admitted to the need for a “centralized entity.”

BIS’s latest project urges Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Africa to test cross-border CBDCs

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The Bank of Internation Settlements’ aka BIS has been keeping an eye on the development of central bank digital currencies [CBDC] across the globe. In order to further spruce up the process, the bank hopes to initiate the whole cross-border system for CBDCs.

CBDCs have started to steer the world in a whole new direction. These central bank-issued assets seem to be the latest interest of governments across the globe. An array of countries have already developed the digital version of their fiat currency, however, a few others are still stuck in the research process. China has been at the top of the game as it has its asset already in use.

Now with an aim to get ahead in the race, BIS has urged the central banks of four regions namely, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Africa to join the bank’s latest initiative, Project Dunbar.

BIS’s Project Dunbar to focus on cross-border CBDCs

The aforementioned central banks have been working along with BIS to roll out a prototype that carries out cross-border CBDCs. The reason behind this is to uphold direct transactions and eliminating the requirement of intermediaries. With this prototype, the banks hope to diminish time as well as the cost of transactions.

Furthermore, the project would look into the “international dimension” of the design of the CBDC. Andrew McCormack, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore, would reportedly overlook the project.

Speaking about the same, McCormack said,

“Project Dunbar brings together central banks with years of experience and unique perspectives in CBDC projects and ecosystem partners at advanced stages of technical development on digital currencies. With this group of capable and passionate partners, we are confident that our work on multi-CBDCs for international settlements will break new ground in this next stage of CBDC experimentation and lay the foundation for global payments connectivity.”

Several bank officials from across the globe believe that this project could be great for the CBDCs of different countries.

Crypto rush forces Australia’s securities commission to warn users about unlicensed digital asset entities

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As cryptocurrencies and their related markets make their way up, regulators across the world have warned users of managing their capital in the nascent field. This has been mainly due to the large number of fraudulent activities in the industry mostly fueled by ignorance and cheap phishing tricks. To combat this rising issue, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission [ASIC] has taken the onus to inform its citizens about the do’s and dont’s of crypto trading.

One of the first markers provided by the ASIC was to be on the lookout for cryptocurrency exchanges that do not comply with AML regulations or don’t possess an AFS license. In the latest ASIC report, it was stated:

“An entity is required to be licensed by ASIC if they provide financial services (such as advising or dealing) in relation to financial products offered in Australia. Financial products include derivatives such as options, futures, leveraged tokens, and binary options. The sale of binary options to retail clients was recently banned in Australia under an order that will remain in force for 18 months.”

The ASIC has had to take such a step because of cascading number of cases related to capital fraud. Over the past couple of years, several Australians experienced massive losses be in the form of futures, options, or leveraged tokens. Bringing these entities under the national mandate is expected to streamline the processes and make them much more transparent.

Users have also been urged to cross-check their references and exchanges before investing their hard-earned funds. The first step is to check if the exchange or crypto trading body holds an AFSL or Anti-Money Laundering [AML] system. The Commission further added that users need to be more vigilant when checking for licensing on crypto entities.

Mastercard teams up with Australian crypto exchange CoinJar to issue crypto cards

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Mastercard has been making immense news in the crypto-verse. The payments platform continued to embrace cryptocurrencies despite the market’s steep fall. While the platform has made an array of advancements in the crypto-verse, another feather was added to its cap.

In a recent announcement, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, CoinJar revealed that it had joined hands with Mastercard. This partnership will elevate the exchange’s CoinJar Card as it would allow users to carry out crypto purchases at places that accept Mastercard.

Considering the payments giant’s immaculate user base, this move would be great for the crypto industry as it would boost adoption.

Mastercard and CoinJar to ramp up crypto-adoption

Elaborating about its latest association with Mastercard, CoinJar in its latest blog post pointed out that users would be able to avail this service by either physical or digital cards. Along with this, an Apple Pay and Google Pay integration would also be made available.

Soon after a user initiates a payment in crypto, CoinJar would reportedly convert the desired crypto asset into Australia’s fiat currency before the transaction is carried out. A total of 30 cryptocurrencies are supported by the CoinJar Card and this list includes, Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], etc.

The blog post further read,

“CoinJar Card allows you to use the cryptocurrency in your CoinJar to make purchases, wherever Mastercard is accepted. All you need to do is choose which crypto you want to spend and it’ll be automatically converted to Australian dollars when you make a transaction – no need to preload. […] With full digital wallet support, you can spend your crypto instantly and securely with the device in your hand (or on your wrist).”

In addition to this, the platform pointed out that the activation of the card was free of cost. Furthermore, users would be able to enjoy CoinJar Rewards as it claims to have a low 1% transaction fee.

Jack Dorsey’s Square to buy Afterpay for $39B in Australia’s largest-ever buyout

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Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s digital financial platform Square has announced its plans to acquire ASX-listed buy now pay later behemoth Afterpay in an all-stock deal. At $29 billion, the transaction for the entire deal is said to be Australia’s biggest-ever buyout.

The founders of Afterpay, Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen will continue to hold the position with the company.

Jack Dorsey asserted that both Square and Afterpay have a shared purpose to create a business to make the financial system fair, accessible, and inclusive. The exec claimed that the Australian ‘buy now, pay later’ firm Afterpay, has built a trusted brand aligned with those principles. Dorsey went on to add that company’s buy now, pay later feature would be implemented with its Seller and Cash app products.

“Together, we can better connect our Cash App and Seller ecosystems to deliver even more compelling products and services for merchants and consumers, putting the power back in their hands.”

The main objective behind this acquisition is to facilitate the two entities to deliver innovative financial products and services that foster access to more users and encourage incremental revenue for merchants of all sizes. According to the official press release by the payment juggernaut, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, if all the closing conditions are met.

Commenting on the latest development, Alyssa Henry, Lead of Square’s Seller business stated,

“Buy now, pay later has been a powerful growth tool for sellers globally. We are thrilled to not only add this product to our Seller ecosystem but to do it with a trusted and innovative team.”

Square’s Bitcoin Revenue

Cash App, which happens to be the peer-to-peer payments service of the payment firm Square, raked in $2.72 billion in Bitcoin revenue in the second quarter of 2021. Interestingly, the yearly revenues rose by 200%. Announcing the impressive earnings figures, Square also revealed that its Bitcoin service accounted for the lion’s share of its total net revenue of $4.68 billion for the second quarter which was up by 143% year over year despite a series of market corrections.

Bitcoin revenue and gross profit declined from the first quarter of the year because of unstable prices that had an adverse effect on the trading activity as opposed to prior quarters.

Binance Australia partners with Koinly as ATO’s fixation with crypto tax intensifies

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Binance has faced regulatory heat from several countries across the globe. The Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange has found itself being called to task by financial watchdogs in an increasing number of jurisdictions, triggering a number of banking institutions to halt payments to the site.

To avoid the addition of Australia to its ever-widening list of regulatory hot spots, the exchange’s Australian branch has partnered with Koinly, a cryptocurrency tax startup that will educate and help Binance users with their cryptocurrency tax obligations. With the latest deal, Binance users have also been offered access to Koinly’s ATO-compliant tax reporting solution through an integration.

The ATO’s cracking down on crypto owners has intensified in 2021 for tax returns in an effort to bring more than 600,000 people who have bought crypto assets under the tax umbrella. The regulatory entity of the country views crypto as an asset rather than a currency, hence it deems it taxable when bought, sold, or swapped. Robin Singh of Koinly stated

“The ATO is collecting bulk records data from Australian crypto exchanges and comparing it to amounts entered on previous tax returns. Failure to declare crypto gains can attract a penalty of 75% of the outstanding tax liability.”

The news comes as the Australian Taxation Office [ATO] dashed the hopes of cryptocurrency owners when it confirmed that they can no longer avoid their tax bills. Australian Taxation Office assistant commissioner Tim Loh had previously warned crypto owners and was quoted saying, “it is not a game of hide and seek.”

Binance-Koinly Collaboration

The Australian subsidiary of the world’s largest crypto exchange is setting consumer education in the focus. The exchange is already hosting the second in a series of EOFY crypto tax masterclasses for the community. The 2021 edition is shown in partnership with Koinly, where the tax reporting app will concentrate on understanding the ATO’s position in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It also aims to empower Binance users to report their crypto position correctly in their 2021 returns.

Singh acknowledged that Australia is lucky to have clear guidance on tax rules regarding crypto. However, the need for the Binance taxpayers to keep audit-worthy reporting exposes investors to penalties. Hence, the exec stated that,

“Getting your taxes right is incredibly important, which is why we’re proud to offer reporting that is robust enough for tax agents and audits. With approximately 1 in 6 Australians investing in crypto, taxpayers and tax agents alike are on a steep learning curve. Our community has voiced their concern around tax compliance and we’re committed to supporting them with the resources they need,” said Sam Teoh, of Binance Australia.”

Australia cozies upto Bitcoin as survey reveals positive numbers

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Bitcoin’s reach has been prevalent across several regions with investors flocking to the cryptocurrency as an alternative store of value. Recently, comparison platform Finder published a survey measuring Australia’s affinity towards Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market in general. Australians were asked several questions in the survey pertaining to the use cases and effectiveness of Bitcoin in a day-to-day financial structure.

According to the research, one in three Australians believe that Bitcoin will one day be more transacted than fiat currency. A majority of the GenZ participants believed that Bitcoin will overtake central currencies while only 30 percent of GenX believed the same. Bitcoin being a bubble was also a central point in the survey with 73 percent agreeing with the question.

While only 17 percent of Australians owned cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, it was still considered a legitimate investment by its holders. Another Finder survey had revealed that a quarter of Australians would accept a part of their salary being paid in Bitcoin. Taylor Blackburn, a personal finance specialist at Finder elucidated on the country’s positive sentiment towards crypto by saying:

“Bitcoin has seen impressive growth in the past year despite its sometimes volatile nature. With more Australians looking for inflation hedges, yield-bearing assets, and alternative investment opportunities, it’s not surprising that these many people are willing to be paid part of their salary in Bitcoin.”

The latest survey looked to include the rise of cryptocurrency exchanges as well. Fifteen percent of the sample space claimed that they use exchanges while 73 percent said they were not planning on getting one. Bitcoin’s dominance in the continent comes as no surprise as the cryptocurrency has also garnered support from other institutions.

Australian government grants millions in grants to rising blockchain companies

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There is no denying that blockchain projects have taken off in the last couple of months with even mainstream institutions adopting the technology. On June 12, the Australian government also jumped on the blockchain bandwagon as it granted more than $5.6 million to industry-based grants programs.

Australian Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the projects would help to accelerate the country’s adoption of blockchain technology and “assist businesses to solve real-world problems”. The first two recipients of the Blockchain Pilot Grants were Everledger and Convergence. tech. While the former received $3 million, the former landed a grant of $2.6 million.

The funds for the blockchain grants were first included in the Federal Budget for the 2020-2021 session. Last year in February, the Australian Government released the National Blockchain Roadmap which set the course for the current developments. Christian Porter said:

“The Blockchain Pilot Grants will demonstrate the potential for blockchain to help businesses to save money and cut red tape by improving processes such as tracking products throughout the supply chain and transferring customer information.”

He continued:

“These two successful projects will also highlight opportunities to improve the technical and regulatory environment for blockchain in Australia, bolster blockchain literacy and support collaboration between Australian governments, the private sector, and blockchain companies.”

Other sources within the government agreed with Porter in the fact that Australia had to keep up with the changing financial climate. Using the funds, Everledger plans to investigate the use of blockchain in digital certification. On the other hand, Converge will use its grants capital to help automate ‘commodity-based tax’ processes.

Australia has been blockchain positive for quite some time now and the latest move by the government only solidified cryptocurrency’s hold in the continent down under.

Elon Musk invented Bitcoin? That’s what more than half of Australians who took this survey believe

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Tesla’s Elon Musk has been making immense news in the crypto-verse. Bitcoin [BTC] slipped down below $40K soon after Musk dropped support for the king coin pointing out its issues pertaining to the environment. While people continue to frown on the tech billionaire, several Australians have been suggesting that Elon Musk was the creator of Bitcoin.

The founder of the world’s first and the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is still uncertain. While several across the globe are aware that Satoshi Nakamoto went on to discover the king coin, Aussies seem to have found out the person behind the formulation of BTC. A recent survey conducted by the Finder, an Australian website tested the crypto knowledge of Australians.

Elon Musk aka Satoshi Nakamoto?

Finder had a total of 1,004 respondents as part of its recent crypto survey. Out of this, 56% of the participants suggested that tech billionaire Elon Musk was the founder of Bitcoin.

This survey further revealed that only 25% of the Australians part of it, already had crypto while a few others intended to buy some before the end of the year. Even though the aforementioned number wasn’t too high, about 20% of them had no idea how to buy digital assets. The crypto knowledge of these Australians wasn’t too high either as 44% of them assumed BTC had an unlimited supply.

Furthermore, the demand for the king coin hasn’t dropped too low as several platforms continue to veer into the industry. Finder was the latest one to do so. The platform even went on to announce the launch of its Bitcoin trading service. The CEO and co-founder of Finder Fred Schebesta revealed that they had eliminated any complications with regard to the buying of Bitcoin.

Addressing the same, Schebesta said,

“The Finder makes buying and selling Bitcoin more convenient by eliminating the need to deal with technical things such as crypto wallet addresses, private keys and blockchains. Instead, we handle them all for you and make it as easy as swiping to buy or sell.”

Australian Crypto Spend Surges To 2.4% In 2020 Thanks To Millennials

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Cryptocurrencies have been gaining extensive traction following the ever surging value of the industry. Australia has been one among the several countries that have been steering towards the adoption of crypto. A recent survey conducted by the Independent Reserve revealed that despite facing an array of hurdles his year with the ongoing pandemic, the crypto industry managed to record an increase from AUD $257 billion in January to AUD $810 billion. The IRCI 2020 Cryptocurrency Index also touched several other areas including Awareness, Adoption, Trust as well as Confidence pertaining to the crypto industry in Australia.

Australia’s Citizens Well Aware About Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash

In the elaborate survey, it was noted that Australians cognizant about Bitcoin as 88.8% of the respondents said so. Only 23.5% and 21.9% of the respondents knew about Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash respectively. While other coins like XRP, Litecoin, and EOS were a part of the list, the fairly new crypto asset, Chainlink made it to the list. About 8.6% of the survey participants had no idea about any of the aforementioned assets.

While this was the awareness rate, the cryptocurrencies that the 1,000+ Australian respondents held weren’t very different. The survey read,

“Aussie crypto owners are holding:
Bitcoin: 74%, XRP (Ripple): 28%, Ethereum: 27%,
Bitcoin Cash: 17%, Litecoin: 15%, Chainlink: 5.2%,
Other tokens: 8.5%”

The adoption rate of crypto in Australia had recorded a surge since 2019. The IRCI suggested that 18.4% of Aussies owned crypto assets, which is one in every five participants of the survey had some cryptocurrency. Millennials were the star of the show as they had driven the adoption of crypto in the country. The graph read,

Australian

Additionally, the crypto spend of the country had increased from 1.3% in 2019 to 2.4% this year. The survey suggested that the age group of 25-34 were most likely to spend over $500 every month for crypto trading as opposed to the other age groups.

As the price of Bitcoin has been rising more than ever right now, the world has its eyes on the asset. However, most of the respondents of the survey were still sitting on the fence with regard to their opinion about the asset. About 19% of the Australian participants considered the king coin to be an Investment and another 19% viewed the asset as digital gold or store of value. A very few regarded Bitcoin as a scam or money.