Australia could unlock up to 24 billion Australian dollars ($17 billion) annually from tokenised markets and digital assets but risks capturing only a fraction of that without regulatory reforms, according to a new fintech industry report.
A study by the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre estimates the country will secure just 1 billion Australian dollars ($710 million) in annual economic gains from crypto by 2030 unless lawmakers introduce clearer frameworks and industry coordination.
“Long-term economic benefits will only be realised through clear regulatory frameworks and infrastructure built to institutional standards,”
Said OKX CEO Kate Cooper.
The report titled "Unlocking Australia’s $24b Digital Finance Opportunity", produced with the Digital Economy Council of Australia and funded by OKX, identified regulatory uncertainty, coordination issues and limited scaling pathways for pilot projects as key barriers to growth.
Researchers suggested establishing a regulatory sandbox to test tokenised financial market applications, including tokenised government bonds and a wholesale central bank digital currency to support emerging digital asset markets.
The DFCRC said tokenised money such as stablecoins and CBDCs could significantly reduce cross-border payment costs by lowering reliance on correspondent banks that charge high transaction fees.
The report added that tokenisation could create more transparent and flexible financial assets directly usable in automated trading, lending and collateral management systems, potentially expanding markets such as collateralised lending and repo finance.