A senior official at Australia’s corporate regulator has suggested that blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies should not be treated as a separate asset class when crafting financial regulations, arguing that they largely perform the same economic functions as existing financial infrastructure.
Speaking at a financial industry event, Rhys Bollen, fintech lead at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), said that while blockchain technology introduces new technical methods for executing transactions, the underlying financial activities remain largely unchanged.
According to Bollen, digital assets and blockchain-based systems essentially replicate traditional financial services such as payments, trading, capital raising, and asset transfers
These functions are already covered by existing regulatory frameworks; he suggested that regulators should focus on the economic purpose of an activity rather than the technology used to carry it out.
The comments come as policymakers in Australia and other jurisdictions continue to debate how best to regulate the rapidly evolving digital asset sector
Some lawmakers have proposed creating entirely new regulatory categories for crypto, while others have advocated adapting existing financial laws to cover blockchain-based services.
Bollen emphasized that blockchain technology should be viewed as a new type of infrastructure rather than a fundamentally different asset class
In his view, many crypto-based products are simply digital versions of traditional financial instruments or services that regulators already understand.
For example, tokenized securities could fall under existing securities laws, while stablecoins that facilitate payments may be regulated under frameworks designed for payment systems
Applying regulations based on the function of a product rather than its technological structure could help create more consistent oversight across financial markets.
The approach also reflects a broader regulatory trend toward technology-neutral policies, where laws are designed to address financial risks regardless of the platform or infrastructure used.
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