Insights · Regulation

ASIC’s digital asset licensing deadline has passed: what it means for advisers.

5 November 2026 · Checked against ASIC’s published guidance on 5 November 2026

On 30 September 2026, ASIC’s sector-wide “no-action” position for digital asset businesses came to an end. Firms that provide financial services involving digital assets had nearly a year to apply for an Australian financial services licence, or to vary the one they hold. From 1 October, ASIC says those that need a licence and have not met the conditions of its no-action position risk breaching financial services law.

Clients who hold crypto assets may well ask you about it. Here is what changed, what didn’t, and where your own obligations sit.

What happened

In October 2025, ASIC updated its information sheet on digital assets, INFO 225. It clarifies how existing financial services law applies to digital assets. ASIC said at the time that stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenised securities and digital asset wallets are among the digital asset products it considers to be financial products, and that “many widely traded digital assets are financial products under current law”.

To give firms time to apply for licences, ASIC took a sector-wide no-action position, first until 30 June 2026. In June 2026 it extended the deadline to 30 September 2026, and widened the position to cover firms working under authorised representative or intermediary arrangements with an existing licensee.

That deadline has now passed. ASIC has warned that firms which need a licence or a variation, and have not met the conditions of its no-action position, could face civil and criminal penalties, including potential fines of up to 10 percent of annual turnover. By mid-October, ASIC had recorded more than 140 licence applications, more than 110 of them in response to INFO 225 during the no-action period.

The High Court has backed ASIC’s reading of the law

Earlier this year, the High Court unanimously found that Block Earner’s fixed-yield “Earner” product was a financial product, and that the firm needed a licence to offer it. The Court looked at the substance of the arrangement, not how it was labelled. ASIC says the decision confirms its long-standing view that the definition of a financial product is broad and technology neutral.

For advisers, the practical lesson is simple. Whether something is a financial product depends on what the arrangement does, not on what it is called. Yield, lending and “earn” features are where the line is most often crossed.

What has not changed: Bitcoin itself

INFO 225 works through Bitcoin as an example. ASIC’s analysis is that Bitcoin is unlikely to be a facility for making a financial investment, because no issuer raised funds with a promise of returns, and that it is unlikely to be any other type of financial product.

That is about Bitcoin itself. Products built around it can be financial products: an exchange-traded fund that holds Bitcoin, or a yield arrangement like the one in the Block Earner case. Whether a particular platform or service a client uses needs a licence depends on what it offers.

The next milestone: April 2027

A second, larger change is coming. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 passed Parliament on 1 April 2026, received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026 and commences on 8 April 2027. It brings digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms into the financial services licensing regime.

ASIC’s implementation roadmap sets out the sequence, in months:

new regulatory guidance and operating standards between six and twelve months;
licence applications from platforms between twelve and eighteen months;
full implementation and enforcement after that.

The first of those steps has started. On 15 October 2026, ASIC released Consultation Paper 392, with its proposed standards and guidance for the new laws, including a streamlined licensing process for firms that already hold a licence. Submissions close on 27 November 2026.

What this means in practice

Clients may ask whether “their” platform is regulated. Any business that holds an Australian financial services licence appears on ASIC’s professional registers, which anyone can search. Licensing tells a client that a firm is subject to ASIC’s regime. It doesn’t tell them whether a particular product suits them.

Your authorisations decide what you can advise on. Explaining how the rules are changing is general information. If a conversation moves to a recommendation about a particular product or platform, that is financial product advice: your licensee’s authorisations, its approved product list and your best interests obligations apply in full.

Write it down. If a client raises a digital asset platform or product, a short file note protects you both:

what the client asked;
what you explained;
whether any recommendation was made;
anything the client told you about their holdings and how they are held.

Point clients to independent information. ASIC’s Moneysmart site has a plain-language page on the risks of crypto assets for consumers.

Where this fits in the course. Module 6 of Bitcoin for Financial Advisers covers the adviser’s role: client conversations, custody, regulation and record-keeping. The course carries 5.0 FAAA-accredited CPD hours, including 0.5 hours of regulatory compliance and consumer protection.

See how the hours fit your CPD year

This article is general information and professional education, current at 5 November 2026. It is not legal or financial product advice; check the current position with ASIC’s guidance and your licensee. BlockWise holds no Australian financial services licence.

Sources

All read on 5 November 2026.