Australia’s financial watchdog just gave crypto businesses more breathing room. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) pushed its temporary enforcement relief deadline from June 30 to September 30, buying digital asset firms another three months to sort out their licensing paperwork.
The no-action position covers businesses seeking an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license, plus companies that may need market or clearing and settlement authorizations. ASIC also expanded the relief to include digital asset businesses operating through authorized representatives with licensed firms. That widens the pool of companies that get the extra time.
ASIC says it has received about 30 license applications since updating its digital asset guidance in October 2025. That guidance clarified something many in the industry already suspected: under existing Australian law, a lot of digital asset products count as financial products. Which means the companies dealing in them need an AFS license.
The regulator’s position got a boost from an unlikely source: the High Court. In the Block Earner ruling, the court found that the company’s former crypto yield product was a financial product under the Corporations Act. That reinforced ASIC’s broader argument that Australia’s financial product definitions are technology-neutral.
Here’s where it gets interesting. This temporary relief is separate from Australia’s new Digital Asset Framework, which passed Parliament in April and kicks in on April 9, 2027. ASIC has warned that some firms licensed under the current guidance may need additional authorizations once the new regime goes live. So today’s grace period is just a pit stop on the way to full licensing.
