ASIC calls time on transitional relief for relevant digital asset facilities

ASIC has called on firms to act before 30 September 2026, the date identified in its announcement as the end of transitional relief for relevant digital asset facilities. The deadline is not a blanket licensing requirement for every business that deals with digital assets, and it does not mean that every crypto-related service is regulated in the same way.

The starting point is whether the relevant digital asset facility or service is a financial product under the Corporations Act 2001. If it is, the business may need to hold the appropriate Australian financial services licence and provide services within the scope of that licence. If the digital asset is not a financial product, the same AFSL consequences do not automatically follow.

ASIC's final call for firms to act before the digital asset licensing deadline should therefore be read as a targeted warning to firms operating relevant digital asset facilities, rather than as a direction to all financial planning practices to treat digital assets as licensed products.

What the 30 September date means

The date is significant because transitional relief is time limited. It is not, on the information in ASIC's announcement, a general date by which every firm that has mentioned or referred to crypto must lodge an application. Nor should a business assume that lodging an application automatically allows it to continue providing the relevant service.

Affected firms need to establish what the transitional relief covers, the conditions attached to it and what must be in place when it ends. That may require an application for an AFSL, a variation to an existing licence, a change to the operating model, or cessation of the relevant activity. The answer depends on the nature of the facility and the financial service being provided.

The relevant legislative question is therefore not simply whether the business uses the label “digital asset”. It is whether the facility or service falls within the financial product and financial services framework in the Corporations Act 2001, and whether the firm is authorised to provide the service. ASIC's general guidance on applying for and managing an AFS licence explains the licensing framework, but it does not replace the digital asset analysis.

Why this matters to advice practices

A planning practice should not classify an activity solely by reference to the word “crypto”, the provider's marketing material or the fact that another business executes a transaction. It should identify the facility, the service and the role performed by the practice.

That distinction is important because the following activities do not, by themselves, establish that the licensing deadline applies:

• discussing a digital asset with a client;
• including a digital asset in a portfolio or strategy discussion;
• referring a client to another business; or
• receiving a payment connected with a referral or service.

Those activities may raise separate legal, conduct or conflict questions. They become relevant to the ASIC deadline only if the underlying facility or financial service falls within the regime and the practice is performing a regulated role. The facts of the arrangement, including the rights attached to the asset, the structure of the facility and what the adviser does, need to be assessed.

Questions for licensees and practices

Before relying on transitional relief, a licensee should be able to answer the following questions for each relevant arrangement:

• 1. **What is the facility?** Identify the legal and operational structure, not just the product name used by the provider.
• 2. **Is it a financial product?** Document the basis for the classification and obtain specialist advice where the position is unclear.
• 3. **What service is being provided?** Separate general information, personal advice, dealing, arranging, custody and other services rather than treating them as a single activity.
• 4. **Which entity performs each role?** Record the involvement of the licensee, authorised representative, related entity, platform, custodian and external provider.
• 5. **What relief applies?** Confirm the scope and conditions of any transitional relief and the consequence of its expiry on 30 September 2026.
• 6. **What must be in place after the deadline?** Determine whether the business needs an AFSL, a licence variation, a different provider arrangement or an end to the relevant service.
• 7. **What evidence supports the decision?** Keep the classification, legal analysis, provider information, internal approvals and implementation decisions together.

This is a recommended governance process, not a list of additional controls imposed by ASIC's announcement. Its value is to ensure that the licensee can explain why the deadline does or does not apply to a particular arrangement.

Do not confuse an application with permission to operate

Where the position is unresolved, the appropriate interim response is a documented decision by the licensee and its legal or compliance advisers. That may involve restricting new activity while the classification is completed. It should not be presented to advisers or clients as a general rule that all digital asset activity must stop, because the deadline does not apply to all digital assets or all crypto-related services.

What this means for licensees

Licensees should identify relevant exposure across the authorised network, but the review should be targeted. A network-wide exercise can begin with a request for practices to disclose arrangements involving digital asset facilities, followed by file or service reviews where the disclosure indicates a potentially regulated activity.

Any declarations, sampling, training changes, approved-product changes or breach-process reviews should be described internally as the licensee's chosen response to its risk assessment, not as controls expressly mandated by ASIC's deadline. The central question is whether the licensee has correctly identified the facility and service, tested the authorisation position and acted before transitional relief expires.

ASIC's announcement gives firms a date by which the issue must be resolved for affected facilities. For planning practices, the immediate action is narrower than a general crypto review: identify any relevant digital asset facilities, establish whether they are financial products, map the service being provided and confirm the conditions that apply when 30 September 2026 arrives.¹