Cryptocurrency in Australia refers to the use and regulation of

digital currencies Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

such as

Bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...

, and various other altcoins within the country of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Australia has been recognized as a relatively progressive country regarding

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

adoption and regulation.

History

The history of

dates back to the early 2010s when Bitcoin first gained popularity. Over the years,

has seen a steady increase in the number of people investing in and using cryptocurrencies. This growth has been accompanied by the development of local cryptocurrency exchanges and businesses.

Adoption and usage

Cryptocurrency adoption in Australia has been notable among both individuals and businesses. The country has seen a significant increase in the number of merchants accepting cryptocurrencies and ATMs facilitating crypto transactions. Furthermore, superannuation funds and investment platforms have begun incorporating cryptocurrencies into their offerings. A significant portion of Australian investors are engaged in the cryptocurrency market. As of 2023, 15% of Australian investors hold cryptocurrencies, with a higher adoption rate of 31% among younger investors aged between 18 and 24. While

remains the most popular cryptocurrency in Australia, other significant cryptocurrencies include

, Ripple (XRP), and

Litecoin Litecoin (Abbreviation: LTC; sign: Ł) is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open-source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Inspired by Bitcoin, Litecoin was the second cryptocurrency starting in October 2011. In te ...

. The Australian market has also seen the rise of local cryptocurrencies and

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

projects. Australia boasts the highest rate of cryptocurrency adoption (23%) among developed nations, ranking eighth worldwide. This rate surpasses the estimated adoption rates in the United States (16%) and the United Kingdom (12%), as reported by

Statista Statista (styled in all lower case) is a German online platform that specializes in data gathering and visualization. In addition to publicly available third-party data, Statista also provides exclusive data via the platform, which is collect ...

Regulatory environment

The Australian government, primarily through the

Australian Securities and Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

(ASIC) and the

Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Taxation in Australia, Australian federal taxation ...

(ATO), has created a regulatory framework that treats cryptocurrencies as property for tax purposes and imposes anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) obligations on

cryptocurrency exchange A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may acce ...

References

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Currencies of Australia Finance in Australia

History

Adoption and usage

Regulatory environment

See also

References