ASIC Boosts Consumer Protection Around CFD Crypto Trading In Australia

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has further tightened up regulations for crypto exchanges in the country. This follows recent news of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposing certain conditions on Binance, such as reducing leveraged trading, to protect retail traders.

FCA Tames Crypto Trading in the UK

On 26 June, the UK’s FCA ordered crypto exchange Binance to halt all regulated services and stop the promotion of certain products and trading services for British citizens.

On 29 June, ASIC reduced CFD (Contracts for Difference) leveraged trading available to retail traders from 30:1 to 2:1, following earlier pronouncements of the FCA.

Of late, ASIC has been prompted to regulate trading services due to the number of Aussie crypto investors who have been defrauded by scammers posing as crypto exchanges in the country.

We are also paying careful attention to changes in CFD providers’ reported holdings of retail client money and any misclassification of retail clients as wholesale clients, which would risk denying them important rights and protections. Protecting retail investors from harm, particularly at a time of heightened vulnerability, is a priority for ASIC.

Cathie Armour, ASIC Commissioner

While the trading of cryptoassets per se isn’t regulated by financial watchdogs in Australia and the UK, CFDs do fall into that category, and crypto exchanges must abide by certain conditions to promote CFD crypto trading and other products.