Adopt bitcoin or bust, says industry

Fran Foo
OCTOBER 03, 2014
THE AUSTRALIAN
AUSTRALIA stands to lose billions of dollars at the expense of tens of thousands of jobs if digital currencies are not widely recognised as legal tender, a peak industry body said.
Bitcoin operators want several hurdles removed and one major bugbear is the tax office classifying digital currencies as an asset instead of money or foreign currency.
ADCCA believes that Australia should follow Britain’s lead in not imposing a goods and services tax to digital currency transactions.
“I genuinely think there are billions of dollars at stake here,” Australian Digital Currency Commerce Association chairman Ronald Tucker told The Australian.
“We stand to gain that in 10 to 50 years time so it’s not something Australia can afford to miss out on,” he said.
The number of companies operating a digital currency business were on the rise and such innovation should not be stifled, Mr Tucker said.
He cited the example of digitalBTC, one of the world’s first publicly listed bitcoin companies who chose to go public on the ASX.
The use of bitcoins specifically has exploded over the past 18 months — Flinders University has started accepting bitcoins for one of its courses, and Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra have bitcoin ATMs. Many companies accept the currency as a legitimate payment method.
ADCCA is leading the march to legitimise crypto currencies like bitcoins and welcomed news that a senate inquiry would report on a regulatory framework for digital currencies by March 15.
The Senate economics references committee will investigate myriad digital currency issues including tax laws, impact on the economy, and potential illicit activities.
NSW Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who chairs the committee, was successful in the Senate yesterday with his motion to start the inquiry.
Mr Tucker said the industry wants a “level playing field” to ensure this type of “innovative business is encouraged.”
The association has proposed becoming the industry body responsible for self-regulation of Australian digital currency users, traders and merchants.
“Membership in ADCCA will be open to all participants in the digital currency industry
which are willing and able to comply with the regulatory framework set out by ADCCA
and its members,” it said in its submission to the government’s financial services inquiry.
“Different levels of membership may be available, depending on the degree of compliance sought.”
The association believes a regulatory framework for crypto currencies should “encourage and facilitate” the operation of legitimate digital currency businesses, educate customers (on) its use and the risks associated with it, and make it easier for people to recognise legitimate digital currency businesses”.
It says the framework should “remain sufficiently flexible and technologically neutral so as to be able to adapt to developments as required”.