The CEO of Binance Australia Leigh Travers thinks that a specific framework will prove the crypto industry holds itself to a higher standard than many believe.
Travers spoke about the current state of local crypto regulatory efforts and how the opportunities available in the industry are restricted by the lack of clarity.
That lack of clarity was cited as the reason why the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has indefinitely postponed a pilot program for its crypto trading services last month. Although there are no rules on the books directly prohibiting CBA’s new service, Australian financial regulators pushed for a pause on the services because of absent consumer protections.
Without the regulations in place to allow such crypto services to operate, they cannot prove their viability. From Travers’ point of view, the crypto industry is already ahead of traditional financial regulatory regimes for several reasons, and he believes new regulations should reflect that. He said he thinks “the crypto industry wants to see regulation” for a good reason.
Travers believes a sensible regulatory regime would make that higher standard apparent to Australians. With or without new regulations, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis made it clear in January that when it comes to financial crimes, “cash is still king.”
Another way Travers said the crypto industry sets itself apart from traditional finance is that cryptos such as BTC and ETH do not easily fit into any existing classification for property or financial products. Cryptocurrency is currently categorized as property in Australia.
Overall, Travers seems bullish on crypto. He shared his conviction in the future of NFTs and the various roles they could play in society. In the short term, he admitted that the way of NFTs is still uncertain and would likely continue to be simple art pieces, but that the long-term implications for NFTs were far-reaching for property rights and intellectual property.
