Crypto Industry Leaders in Australia Remain Optimistic Despite Ongoing Challenges
Australians are increasingly turning to self-managed superannuation funds as a method to gain exposure to cryptocurrency investments, seeking portfolio diversification opportunities.
The cryptocurrency industry in Australia is experiencing advancement in both regulatory development and user adoption, though several challenges remain unresolved, according to executives in the digital asset space who spoke with Cointelegraph.
Speaking at the XRP Australia 2026 conference held in Sydney on Friday, Coinbase's managing director for the Asia-Pacific region, John O'Loghlen, highlighted that Australia has witnessed favorable regulatory developments alongside increasing knowledge among regulatory authorities overseeing the sector.
"Multiple arms of government, mainly Treasury, who are writing the draft regulation and ASIC, have pretty thoroughly kind of upskilled their teams and have pretty deep digital asset domain expertise internally. So I think there's been pretty kind of positive movement."
O'Loghlen further emphasized that institutional participation and market access are expanding via financial products such as cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. The nation's inaugural ETF holding Bitcoin (BTC) directly launched in June 2024, with an ETF containing Ether (ETH) following in October 2024.
He further mentioned that the addition of Coinbase Global to the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) index provides Australian institutional investors with exposure to crypto-related equities, enabling them to gain knowledge "about the industry in a very passive way."
According to a 2025 research study published by cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve, digital currency adoption throughout Australia climbed to 31%, representing an increase from 28% in 2024. Furthermore, 29% of respondents indicated their intention to invest within the coming 12 months.
Self-managed super fund investors eye crypto
Kate Cooper, who serves as CEO of OKX Australia, observed that substantial expansion for the platform has originated from advanced traders, trustees of self-managed super funds (SMSF), and individuals with high net worth.
Simultaneously, she indicated that throughout the broader industry, an increasing number of newly established self-managed superannuation funds are being created explicitly to enable trustees to gain exposure to digital assets, "because they currently can't invest via the big super funds."
Self-managed super funds represent retirement investment vehicles established and controlled by individuals themselves, contrasting with traditional funds operated by major financial institutions for their members.
In an upcoming OKX research report examining SMSFs, Cooper revealed that numerous survey participants expressed interest in digital assets as a strategy for diversifying their investment portfolios.
"That's the feedback that we got through the research: a significant number of people wanting a diversified portfolio, wanting not just crypto, but digital assets more broadly, to be held as part of their portfolio. And SMSF is one of the main ways to do that."
Lingering issues remain in Australia's crypto scene
In September of last year, industry leaders, Cooper among them, informed Cointelegraph that Australian users continue to encounter banking obstacles when attempting to interact with trading platforms and other cryptocurrency service providers.
"It's absolutely still a challenge in the industry," Cooper said. "I don't think there's been any improvements. And we're working hard with governments to encourage them to set some standards around it."
O'Loghlen similarly advocated for addressing debanking concerns, enhanced protections for blockchain payment innovations, and increased support for domestically-developed Australian stablecoins.
"Regulatory settings must support innovation rather than inadvertently constrain it," he said.
"As the Regulation of Payment Service Providers reforms are developed, it will be important to ensure that non-custodial wallet developers and public blockchain infrastructure providers are not unintentionally captured within licensing regimes designed for intermediaries," O'Loghlen added.
Australian legal, regulatory landscape in limbo
In the meantime, Bill Morgan, an Australian attorney specializing in cryptocurrency law, suggested that the country's legal and regulatory environment for digital assets appears to be in a "wait and see" mode currently, stemming from ongoing litigation between the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and financial technology company Block Earner.
The regulatory body ASIC is currently appealing against a Federal Court ruling that favored Block Earner regarding whether the company needed to obtain a financial services license for its cryptocurrency-related offerings.
Morgan also referenced a recent transition in governmental leadership that may be causing delays in legislative progress.
"I think to some extent it's a function of having three-year terms. There was some momentum under the former Liberal National Party coalition government, but then when Labor won its first term four years ago, then it took a while to for it to get going again."