Cryptocurrency in Australia: regulation, taxes and licensing
In short. Australia treats crypto as an asset and halves your tax if you hold it a year, and that arrangement has ten months left. Parliament passed the replacement in June 2026: from 1 July 2027 the discount gives way to inflation indexation plus a minimum 30% on gains. Platforms are moving under financial services licensing on their own timetable, and some registration deadlines have already passed.
- HOLD 12 MONTHS OR MORE
- 50% offon the taxable gain, until 30 June 2027
- FROM JULY 2027
- 30% minimumplus indexation, replaces the discount
- COIN FOR COIN
- Taxablethe swap counts as a disposal
- PLATFORM LICENCE
- AFSLnew regime starts April 2027
- AUSTRAC REGISTRATION
- Since July 2026for newly covered providers
- LEGAL TENDER
- Nopaying with crypto is a disposal
Two clocks running at once
Weighing Australia means watching two dates, because today's rules expire on one of them.
The tax office treats crypto as a capital gains asset and gives individuals who hold for twelve months or more a 50% discount on the gain. That rule has held for years and is what draws long-term holders to the country.
The Treasurer announced its end in the 2026-27 Budget on 12 May 2026, and the legislation received Royal Assent on 26 June. From 1 July 2027 the discount disappears. In its place come two mechanisms: your purchase price gets adjusted for inflation, and a minimum rate of 30% applies to net capital gains on assets held beyond a year. Gains that accrued before the switch keep the old treatment, so anyone holding across the date will need records that separate the two periods.
What counts as a disposal
Selling for dollars is the obvious case, and three others catch people out.
Swapping one crypto asset for another triggers a capital gains event, whether or not dollars ever appear. Paying for goods does too, because you disposed of the coin to get them, and so does giving crypto away.
A narrow exemption covers crypto you keep mainly for personal use and consumption, though the assessors read that category tightly: buy with an eye on the price and you will struggle to claim it.
Platforms move under financial licensing
The Corporations Amendment covering digital assets received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026, and it puts exchanges into the same licensing system as brokers and fund managers.
The law creates the digital asset platform and the tokenised custody platform, and both need an Australian financial services licence. It takes effect twelve months after assent, in April 2027, after which operators get a further six months to file an application.
The corporate regulator ran an interim position for years, saying it would not act against certain platforms operating without a licence. That position expires in June 2026. A business that wants to lean on it has to have been operating in Australia on or before 31 December 2025 and to have lodged a complete licence application by 30 June 2026.
Anti-money-laundering caught up in July 2026
The expanded regime came into force on 1 July 2026, pulling in providers who sat outside it before, among them crypto-to-crypto exchanges and custody services.
Those newly covered had until 29 July 2026 to register with the financial intelligence agency. The obligations run alongside licensing rather than replacing it, so a platform ends up answering to both the corporate regulator and the money-laundering agency.
What this means if you are moving there
Through June 2027 patience pays: hold beyond a year and half your gain escapes tax.
After that the calculation changes shape. Indexation helps in periods of high inflation and does little in quiet ones, and the 30% floor removes the benefit that low-income holders drew from the old discount. Someone planning a move around a long-held position should model both regimes before committing, and keep purchase records that survive the 2027 boundary.
Allowed
- Buy, hold and sell crypto, with the discount applying until June 2027
- Claim capital losses against capital gains in the usual way
- Use platforms licensed or registered under the new framework
- Hold crypto mainly for personal use and consumption, within narrow limits
Restricted
- Treating a crypto-to-crypto swap as untaxed, since it counts as a disposal
- Claiming the personal use exemption on holdings bought as an investment
- Running a platform without a financial services licence once April 2027 arrives
- Operating as a newly covered provider without registering with the money-laundering agency
How the rules took shape
The tax office sets out its position: crypto is a capital gains asset, not currency.
The digital assets amendment receives Royal Assent, bringing platforms under financial services licensing.
Capital gains reform receives Royal Assent. The 50% discount ends on 1 July 2027.
The expanded anti-money-laundering regime starts. Newly covered providers register by 29 July.
Indexation and a 30% minimum rate replace the discount.
Worth knowing
The world's third-largest crypto ATM network after the US and Canada: from 73 machines in 2022 it has grown to nearly two thousand, and no country is adding them faster.
Common questions
How much tax do I pay on a crypto profit?
Your gain is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate. Hold the asset twelve months or more and half the gain is exempt, an arrangement that runs until 30 June 2027.
What changes in July 2027?
The 50% discount goes. Your purchase price gets adjusted for inflation instead, and a minimum rate of 30% applies to net capital gains on assets held beyond a year. Parliament passed this in June 2026.
Do I owe tax when I swap one coin for another?
Yes. The swap is a disposal for capital gains purposes even when no dollars change hands.
Can my exchange still operate?
For now, yes. Platforms need an Australian financial services licence once the new framework starts in April 2027, with six months after that to apply.
Is crypto legal tender in Australia?
No. Paying with it counts as disposing of the asset, so you calculate a gain or loss on the transaction.
Sources
Related reading
Other countries
Updated 20.08.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice