The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued an ultimatum: digital asset companies relying on the industry-wide "no action" stance must apply for or change their Australian financial services license by September 30, or they may be deemed illegal starting October 1, facing civil and criminal penalties including fines of up to 10% of annual revenue.

Institutions requiring an Australian market license or clearing and settlement facility license must notify their intentions in writing and complete a pre-application meeting by the same date. The updated information sheet 225 includes stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenized securities, and digital asset wallets as financial products, with the no action letter issued concurrently. The deadline for the June 30 cutoff has been extended from June 30 to September 30, covering licensed institution authorized representatives and some intermediary arrangements. Since the guideline update, over 45 related license applications have been recorded, with about 30 during the June extension.

The "Companies Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026" was approved in April and will take effect on April 9, 2027. At that time, digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms will still require corresponding authorization, forming a two-step transition: first passing the financial services license gate, then supplementing with new framework authorization. Those who do not submit at the first gate will be exposed to both sets of laws. The Federal Court has imposed a fine of approximately AUD 14 million on BPS Financial for operating the unlicensed Qoin wallet, including about AUD 1.39 million for operating without a license and about AUD 8.31 million for misleading conduct, and has prohibited further false statements with a ten-year restriction on unlicensed financial services operations. The High Court has also determined that Block Earner's fixed income products are financial products and derivatives, requiring licensing.

Company civil penalties are based on the highest of three amounts: 50,000 penalty units, three times the profits gained, or 10% of annual revenue (with a cap of 2.5 million penalty units). Starting July 1, 2026, each penalty unit will be AUD 364, resulting in a fixed cap of approximately AUD 18.2 million, with the 10% revenue cap around AUD 910 million.

Who is buying and who is selling: the event is driven by the expiration of the enforcement grace period, not by new charges. The licensed application is a choice to continue operating; those who do not apply are selling the risk of being prosecuted. Beneficiaries are the more than 45 applicants already in line, while the pressure is on the majority of about 400 local platforms that remain unlicensed. Funding is shifting from "doing first and then applying for a license" to compliance officers, lawyers, and capital occupation.

Source: Public Information