Australia Joins Others In Regulating Cryptocurrency

Australia has decided to regulate its cryptocurrency industry as it tries to stabilize the economy. As cryptocurrency becomes more widely accepted in some countries, its only sound wisdom to create a structure where transactions can be made , monitored and verified.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia would now have to register and document all transactions to the Australian Transaction Reports And Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). This is coming as a result of an issued document from the body outlining the new guidelines and primary obligations that digital currency exchanges have to follow.
With the high level of scrutiny for both exchanges and investors, measures are being put in place to identify and reduce money launderers, terrorism financing and hackers. All Australian currency exchanges must identify and verify the identities of their customers and have records to show for up to seven years and report suspicious matters and transactions. Also, transactions of up to $10,000 or more in physical currency have been imposed and should be brought to the attention of AUSTRAC.
Transitional arrangements are already in place for existing businesses to allow them to provide services while they begin their registration.
Existing digital currency exchange businesses will need to register for the transitional registration arrangements by May 14th. AUSTRAC warns that the unregistered provision of digital currency exchange services will suffer “criminal offence and civil penalty consequences.”
According to news.Bitcoin.com, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced that it would be seeking the opinions from its citizens regarding how the ATO should approach specific tax events. This community consultation is a bid to understand real-life experiences encountered while complying with the regulations