crypto Archives

The Australian government is cracking down on cryptocurrency crimes with new regulatory powers over Crypto ATMs

Michelle Grattan - October 16, 2025 2 MIN READ

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday will outline new powers to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and crime risks associated with cryptocurrency and Crypto ATMs. AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator, estimates 85% of the transactions sent by the top users of Crypto ATMs comes from the proceeds of scams or money-mule… Read more »

Business

The High Court gives corporate regulator ASIC another crack at Block Earner

Simon Thomsen - September 5, 2025 2 MIN READ

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) will get one more crack at cryptocurrency fintech, Block Earner, in a long-running dispute over one of its investment products after the High Court granted the regular special leave to appeal a Full Federal Court decision it lost. It will be the fourth case in a two-year legal battle… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Crypto fintech Block Earner lands $8 million Series A

Simon Thomsen - August 18, 2025 2 MIN READ

Cryptocurrency platform Block Earner has raised $8 million in a Series A amid its ongoing battle with the corporate regulator ASIC. The round was led by Hong Kong crypto investor CMCC Global’s Titan Fund, and supported by Sydney VC King River Capital at a $75 million valuation. The fintech previously raiseed a $7 million Seed… Read more »

Finder cofounders Jeremy Cabral, Fred Schebesta and Frank Restuccia.

Cryptocurrency

Full Federal Court backs Finder in crypto ‘debenture’ fight with ASIC

Startup Daily - July 24, 2025 < 1 MIN READ

The Full Federal Court has dismissed ASIC’s appeal in the Finder Earn case, upholding a 2024 ruling that the crypto yield product wasn’t a debenture under the Corporations Act. Finder welcomed the decision, calling for better regulator–startup collaboration as Australia grapples with crypto regulation.

Cryptocurrency

Crypto exchange Coinstash pockets $4.7 million in fiat currency for Series A

Simon Thomsen - July 3, 2025 < 1 MIN READ

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinstash has raised $4.7 million in a Series A led by an undisclosed Brisbane family office. The eight-year-old digital assets fintech plans to use the cash for platform development, team expansion and user acquisition, with a plan to treble its current customer base. Coinstash CEO Ting Wang said the business has now raised… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Doing their blockie: ASIC is having another crack at crypto fintech Block Earner

Simon Thomsen - May 27, 2025 2 MIN READ

Corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is hoping it’s a case of third time lucky is its legal battle with cryptocurrency platform Block Earner, and will seek special leave from the High Court to appeal last month’s Full Federal Court decision to dismiss their case. ASIC is seeking a High Court’s ruling… Read more »

Business

Double, then nothing: ASIC goes down in appeal over Block Earner’s crypto product

Simon Thomsen - April 23, 2025 2 MIN READ

The battle between corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and Block Earner has swung in favour of the crypto platform after the Federal Court overturned a ruling that its Earner product was a financial product. The battle over the fixed-yield digital asset-related Earner has been running for the past two years after… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Why Bitcoin is a masterclass in what it takes to succeed in tech

Paul Quickenden - November 21, 2024 2 MIN READ

Bitcoin is now above US$90,000. While many view the surge in the context of the US elections, shifts in monetary policy and everything in between – the real story runs somewhat deeper than graphs, Paul Quickenden argues. Here’s his view on why this bull run unique and the lessons for tech innovators. An institutional and… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Finder just had a big win against the corporate cop, ASIC, over its crypto wallet

Simon Thomsen - March 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Finder’s crypto product, Earn, complied with the financial law, the Federal Court has found, dismissing legal action launched by the corporate regular against the fintech. It was a comprehensive win against the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for Finder, with Justice Brigitte Markovic also awarding costs against the regulator. ASIC sued Finder Wallet for… Read more »

Investing

Billionaire investor Charlie Munger had some choice things to say about VCs and crypto

Simon Thomsen - December 4, 2023 6 MIN READ

If you believe that bad things come in threes, then it was a big week for geopolitics, music and investing. A prominent trio paid the ferryman within days: Henry Kissinger, the controversial former US Secretary of State and security adviser to presidents Nixon and Ford, died aged 100; Shane MacGowan, the charismatic Irish poet and… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction for fraud at FTX is a reminder of the risk of crypto trading

John Hawkins - November 6, 2023 3 MIN READ

It is not just crypto tokens that have spectacular downfalls. So can crypto personalities. Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX, one of the world’s largest exchanges for so-called cryptocurrencies, which collapsed last year owing billions of dollars. Now he has gone from being hailed as potentially the world’s first trillionaire to a lengthy term in prison. After… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

The Australian government wants crypto exchanges to have a financial services licence

Simon Thomsen - October 17, 2023 3 MIN READ

Cryptocurrency exchanges will need to need to hold an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) under plans to regulate the sector from the federal government. A proposal paper on regulating the sector has been released by Treasury for feedback by December 1. The government wants to use existing financial services laws with threshold triggers, including an… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

Not Fashionable Tech: The NFT bubble has burst, leaving around 23 million people with a worthless digital token

John Hawkins - October 2, 2023 4 MIN READ

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are in dire straits. With the market in a severe downturn, it’s safe to assume the NFT bubble has well and truly burst. It was never clear why these digital collectables traded for such large amounts of money. Now they mostly do not. What’s behind their turn of fate? And is there… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

ASIC has launched legal action against the Kraken crypto exchange alleging more than 1,100 customers lost $13 million on a product that didn’t meet regulatory rules

Simon Thomsen - September 21, 2023 2 MIN READ

Financial regulator the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has launched Federal Court against Bit Trade Pty Ltd, the company behind the Kraken crypto exchange in Australian, alleging it failed to comply with regulations designed to protect consumers. ASIC’s case alleges Bit Trade’s failure to make a “target market determination” for its margin trading product,… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

It’s a bear market for cryptocurrencies but the growth drivers remain strong

Zeb Rice - July 17, 2023 5 MIN READ

In recent weeks, crypto token prices have taken a beating. The two major coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are off ~5% in the last month and alt coins in many cases are off by 25% or more (e.g ImmutableX is down 17% in the last 30 days, Polygon is off by more than 25%, and Optimism… Read more »