The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Treasury have been holding private talks with Coinbase executives to explore the future of crypto legislation in Australia.
An RBA spokesman confirmed previous allegations that these private talks had taken place, noting that Coinbase met with the RBA's Payments Policy and Financial Stability divisions this week "as part of the Bank's regular contact with industry."
Mr. Tom Duff Coinbase's vice president of international policy, Gordon, who was reportedly flown in for the discussions, confirmed to Cointelegraph that meetings with Treasury took place in Canberra and Sydney. According to Gordon, the discussions discussed the government's token mapping efforts, while Coinbase "offered views on global best practices surrounding licensing and custody."
The Australian Treasury's token mapping initiative, announced on August 22, 2022, aims to categorize digital assets so that they can be integrated into existing regulatory frameworks. On February 3, the Treasury issued a consultation paper in which it solicited feedback from the crypto industry.
"The Australian Treasury teams continue to impress us with their high level of sophistication and active involvement," Gordon said, adding, "The Australian Treasury's token mapping exercise provides one of the most detailed and thoughtful papers we have encountered on the topic, setting a strong foundation for their forthcoming draft rules for crypto exchanges and custodians."
Gordon indicated a desire to see the guidelines "later this year," and praised "the Treasury's thorough foundation." In contrast, Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong has been critical of the United States' approach to crypto regulation, claiming that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is "regulating by enforcement" and that the SEC wants firms to register with them despite the fact that there is no way to register.
Documents released by the Australian Financial Review under freedom of information rules recently suggested that crypto legislation in Australia could be delayed until 2024 or later, since final proposals to the cabinet are not expected until late in the year.
Coinbase will launch in Australia on October 4, 2022, with Nana Murugesan, Coinbase's vice president of international and business development, telling Cointelegraph at the time that the company was "quite delighted with the open door that we've received in Canberra and with other politicians."