Right now, we are living in a period of time that not everyone would imagine we would undergo so many changes in recent years. Technological advancements are a very important part of our lives, and they have a spillover effect on many other fields as well, and more and more industries are trying to digitize their services.
One of the most important effects all those advancements had on the financial sector as they were flexible and ready to adjust to the new reality. It also gave the way to increase the popularity of cryptocurrencies that are very advanced tools to execute exchanges, and not everyone has enough information about them.
However, it should be mentioned that this fact was changed during the 2020 global pandemic because of several reasons.
First is that people were given a lot of free time while being whole days at home because of the quarantine and had enough time to acquire new hobbies or become aware of new things; this is when the popularity and active discussions regarding cryptocurrencies started.
Secondly, due to the global pandemic, the world’s economy was in great trouble, and many people were left without their jobs and tried to find a new source of income; this is when the cryptocurrencies appeared to be ready to accomplish their wish.
In this case, Australia was not an exception too, because the whole world was trying to adapt to new economic conditions and do something about it. This is how the popularity of bitcoin and, generally, cryptocurrencies started.
However, it is obvious that many countries are having different regulations on cryptocurrencies, as well as Australia, and those regulations are due to their individual experiences.
Crypto Regulations
The legislative amendments were initially going to define the accommodation of the use of cryptocurrencies; however, as of now, they are focused on transactional relationships and the activities that involve cryptocurrencies rather than the coins themselves.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) views that the obligations and regulations are technology-neutral, and the cases are very individual in every single case. Even though there are no specific laws on cryptocurrencies, this does not mean that they can be captured within existing regimes and under existing Australian law. The legal status of coins depends on how they are structured and the rights attached to them.
When the coin is characterized as a financial product, it will be considered under the existing financial regulatory regime. Moreover, there are no specific regulations on the blockchain or other distributed ledger technology in Australia.
In 2018, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) announced the acceptance of more strong cryptocurrency exchange regulations. Those crypto regulations require exchanges running in Australia to register with AUSTRAC, in agreement with the AML/CTF 2006 Part 6A – Digital Currency Exchange Register.
The rule requires entities acting as exchanges or giving registrable exchange-type services in order to identify and verify their users, keep the records, and work together with government AML/CTF reporting obligations at the same time. The CEO of AUSTRAC maintains the Digital Currency Exchange Register, and the unregistered platforms are subject to criminal charges and financial penalties.
In May 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced updated regulatory conditions for both initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading.
In August 2020, Australian regulators ordered many exchanges to define private coins, a specific type of anonymous cryptocurrency. However, it did not stop the industry from boos during the global pandemic, and one of the fields that are undergoing the influence from it is more active in terms of the entertainment industry.
While people had nowhere to go, they had to entertain themselves from home, this is when and how the use and popularity of Aussie Bitcoin casinos started to boost. It was due to many reasons, but first and foremost, it was due to the efficiency and convenience of the process.
Moreover, transactions were too easy to make, and the execution of transactions was quick, unlike the time when it required third-party involvement to execute the order.
Bitcoin supply and Australian Dollar
The year 2020 was really a boost for bitcoin’s price. As people saw that the fiat currencies are very vulnerable to inflation because of the global economic crisis, demand for bitcoin increased dramatically. It has reached the historical maximum, and the total cup reached trillion dollars. This means that the circulation of the cryptocurrency is now worth more than the supply of the Australian dollar.
The Bitcoin market’s cap has undertaken the Australian currency. However, the fact is that market cap numbers don’t mean much compared to how much money is actually circulating around the economy. We all know that bitcoin’s price changes every minute, and it is impossible to predict how much it will be, even several days later.
However, it is a good example of what cryptocurrencies are representing now and how much capital is concentrated in this field. With these numbers, we can boldly say that cryptocurrencies are thriving.
Final word
Finally, to sum up, there are a lot of changes going around the world every single day, but not a lot of experts would anticipate that the bitcoin cap would undertake the national currency supply of any country, let alone the big economy such as Australia.
However, it should be noted that this is not a valid argument to count on as the changes might happen within minutes or days around crypto-industry, that would change the prices dramatically, this is why there is still sometimes need to understand better the role or place of cryptocurrencies in the global financial market.
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