Australia’s Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Oct. 12 that it is proposing to expand the scope of contracts for difference (CFD) regulation to include eligible contracts that are settled through the transfer of digital assets. Under the proposal, those contracts could be captured by the rules even when they track the price of non-crypto assets.
Which contracts may be covered
ASIC said the proposed change would apply to contracts that meet the relevant conditions and use digital-asset transfers as the settlement method. That means the settlement structure, not only the nature of the reference asset, could determine whether the product falls within the CFD framework.
Current CFD rules already impose leverage caps
Under Australia’s existing framework, CFD trading is subject to leverage limits. Service providers must also close out positions when funds in a client account fall below the required level, and they must offer negative balance protection so that client losses are limited to the funds held in the CFD trading account.
Some crypto futures and options would remain outside the rules
ASIC said some cryptocurrency futures and options with a fixed expiry date would still be excluded from the CFD rules.
Consultation runs until Nov. 9
ASIC is now seeking comments on the proposal, with the consultation period ending on Nov. 9.
Separately, Australia reportedly passed legislation in April this year requiring crypto exchanges and tokenized custody platforms to come under a financial services licensing framework. The new regime is expected to take effect on April 9, 2027.