SYDNEY : The cryptocurrency industry said on Wednesday it was disappointed with Australia's decision to continue treating digital currencies as assets for tax purposes, and not as foreign currency.
The legislation removes uncertainty following the decision by El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September last year, the Australian government said in its budget announcement. Mitchell Travers, a former cryptocurrency exchange operator and founder of blockchain consultant Soulbis, said the budget change was unclear and appeared at odds with government testing into the viability of a CBDC.
The crypto sector is largely unregulated in Australia and the Treasury said in August it would prioritise ‘token mapping’ work, which will help identify how crypto assets and related services should be regulated.