From Oct. 1, businesses that require authorization but have not met the conditions of the temporary relief could be operating in breach of financial services law. ASIC said violations can carry civil and criminal penalties, with potential fines reaching as much as 10% of annual turnover.
More than 45 licence applications have been recorded from businesses seeking authorization for digital asset related financial services since ASIC updated its Information Sheet 225 guidance in October 2025.
ASIC relief ends after Sept. 30 deadline
The deadline closes a transition period ASIC put in place while crypto businesses assessed whether their products and services were already covered by Australia’s existing financial services laws.
ASIC initially gave affected businesses until June 30, 2026, to enter licensing. In June, the regulator gave firms another three months and moved the cutoff to Sept. 30 after citing industry challenges in moving through the transition.
The no action position does not give a company a licence or exempt it from financial services law. Instead, it sets out circumstances in which ASIC does not intend to take enforcement action while eligible firms move toward the required authorization.
As a result, Oct. 1 does not introduce a new licensing law for every crypto business in Australia. It removes that temporary enforcement protection for firms covered by the arrangement that have not satisfied its conditions.
Crypto.news previously reported that ASIC issued its final warning earlier this month, telling qualifying businesses to enter the licensing process before the relief runs out.
ASIC’s INFO 225 guidance sets out how existing financial product rules can apply to digital assets and related services. Its scope covers digital asset focused businesses, brokers, intermediaries and traditional financial services companies using blockchain technology or tokenizing existing financial products and real world assets.
Whether a licence is required depends on the legal rights and features attached to a product or service. A digital asset that is not itself a financial product can still be used in an arrangement or service that falls within financial services regulation.
What happens to crypto firms from Oct. 1?
Businesses that needed an AFS licence or licence variation and failed to meet the conditions of ASIC’s relief could face regulatory action once the no action position ends.
ASIC has not said that every business without a licence will automatically face enforcement on Oct. 1. The regulator’s warning concerns firms that require authorization under existing law but have not taken the steps needed to remain within the no action arrangement.
The legal reach of those rules has already been tested in court.
Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously in June that Block Earner’s former fixed yield crypto product required a financial services licence.
The court found that the Earner product operated as a facility through which a person made a financial investment and met the definition of a derivative under the Corporations Act. The decision overturned an earlier appeal ruling and sent the matter back to the Full Federal Court to consider ASIC’s appeal over penalties.
For businesses entering licensing before Wednesday’s cutoff, filing an application does not itself amount to regulatory approval. Applicants still have to meet the requirements attached to the licence they are seeking while complying with the conditions that allow them to rely on ASIC’s transitional position.
ASIC has not disclosed the identities of the more than 45 applicants or provided a breakdown showing how many are exchanges, custodians, tokenization businesses or other digital asset service providers.
Australia’s next crypto licensing regime starts in April 2027
The end of the Sept. 30 relief is separate from Australia’s new statutory framework for digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms.
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 passed Parliament on April 1 and received Royal Assent on April 8. It is scheduled to take effect on April 9, 2027.
Australia’s Senate Economics Legislation Committee had earlier backed the framework, which creates dedicated rules for digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms that hold assets for customers.
Under the law, ASIC will be responsible for licensing and supervising businesses that fall within the new categories.
Digital asset platforms can cover arrangements where an operator holds digital assets for clients and provides services involving those assets. Tokenized custody platforms cover arrangements where an operator holds an underlying asset and issues tokens that represent a customer’s entitlement to it.
The regulator plans to set operational standards covering asset holding, transactions and settlement, alongside financial requirements for businesses entering the regime. Regulatory guides are expected to explain how ASIC will license and supervise covered firms.
ASIC’s implementation roadmap divides the transition into stages. During the later part of the implementation period, DAP and TCP operators will be able to lodge financial services licence applications and operate under regulatory relief while those applications are processed.
Full implementation, including ASIC supervision and enforcement under the new framework, begins after the 18 month implementation period.
Existing licences will still matter after April
For some crypto businesses, meeting the Sept. 30 deadline will therefore not be the final licensing step.
ASIC said many authorizations obtained under the current financial services framework will remain necessary after the Digital Assets Framework takes effect. Firms covered by the new DAP or TCP categories may need to add the relevant authorizations to their licences once the April 2027 regime begins.
The current licensing push grew out of ASIC’s updated approach to digital assets under INFO 225. The regulator revised the guidance in October 2025 to explain how existing laws can apply to products including stablecoins, wrapped tokens, staking arrangements and tokenized assets.
Temporary relief was introduced to give businesses time to assess the updated guidance and move into licensing where required. The original June 2026 deadline was later pushed back to Sept. 30 as ASIC clarified the scope of its no action position and expanded eligibility to some businesses operating through authorized representatives and intermediary arrangements.
Australia’s crypto regulatory changes are not limited to ASIC licensing. A crypto travel rule took effect on July 1, requiring regulated providers to collect prescribed information about parties involved in covered virtual asset transfers.
ASIC will now continue work on the rules needed for the April 2027 framework, including consultations on asset holding, transactional and settlement standards and financial requirements. The regulator plans to release further guidance while continuing engagement with digital asset businesses during implementation.