History of Bitcoin in Australia
Australia's tax office treated bitcoin as property from 2014, exchanges have had to register with AUSTRAC since 2018, the ASX listed its first spot bitcoin ETF in June 2024, and Parliament passed licensing for crypto platforms in 2026.
Facts checked 26 October 2026
Timeline: bitcoin in Australia
- 2014ATO issues its first bitcoin guidance
The Australian Taxation Office published draft rulings on digital currency on 20 August 2014 and final rulings on 17 December 2014. It treated bitcoin as property rather than money, so bitcoin transactions were treated as barter and could attract GST twice, a result critics and a Senate committee argued against.
- 2018AUSTRAC regulates crypto exchanges
3 April 2018. Changes to the AML/CTF Act brought digital currency exchanges under AUSTRAC. Existing exchanges had to register by 14 May 2018 and must verify customers and report suspicious transactions.
- 2018Grace period ends
2 October 2018. AUSTRAC's six-month 'policy principles' period ended, and it began checking exchanges' compliance.
- 2019246 exchanges registered
16 January 2019. AUSTRAC said it had registered 246 crypto exchange businesses since April 2018 and had refused registration in two cases.
- 2024ASX admits its first spot bitcoin ETF
20 June 2024. On 20 June 2024 the ASX admitted its first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (ASX: VBTC). The fund holds bitcoin through a US-domiciled master fund, letting investors buy bitcoin exposure through an ordinary brokerage account. ASX had created a category allowing bitcoin and ether as ETF underlying assets in August 2022.
- 2025Digital asset platform bill introduced
26 November 2025. On 26 November 2025 the government introduced the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. It creates two new financial products, digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms, whose operators will need an Australian Financial Services Licence. Small platforms holding under $5,000 per customer and handling under $10 million a year in transactions are exempt.
- 2026Parliament passes crypto platform licensing
April 2026. By 1 April 2026 the Digital Assets Framework Bill had passed both houses of Parliament and was awaiting royal assent. Crypto exchanges and custody platforms that hold customers' assets will need an AFSL from ASIC; the law takes effect 12 months after assent, with a further transition period.
Sources (9)
- AUSTRAC cryptocurrency inquiries (FOI release) - AUSTRAC
- New AML/CTF regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges - PwC Australia Legal Talk
- Parliament of Australia – Senate Economics References Committee, Digital currency – game changer or bit player, Chapter 4 (Taxation)
- ASX media release – ASX admits first Bitcoin ETF
- Treasury ministers – New digital asset laws unlock innovation and safeguard consumers
- Gilbert + Tobin – Australia reshapes digital asset regulation
- Cointelegraph – Australia passes bill to mandate crypto exchange licences (Helen Partz)
- About Our Gold Holdings - Reserve Bank of Australia
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Gold - USGS
History compiled from the sources listed, which we opened and checked in October 2026. Dates follow those sources; where they differ, we say so or leave the detail out.
Cite this page
For essays, articles and research. Prices on this page update daily, so the citations include today's date as the date you accessed it.
@misc{corgano2026historyofbitcoinin, author = {{Corgano}}, title = {History of Bitcoin in Australia}, howpublished = {\url{https://bitcoinprice.corgano.com/bitcoin-history/australia}}, year = {2026}, note = {Corgano Bitcoin Price, accessed 2026-10-26}}