# This Week in Crypto: Australia Enters a New Regulatory Era > This Week in Crypto: Australia Enters a New Regulatory Era News · 5 min read Published 2 October 2026 This week in crypto, Australia reached an important regulatory milestone as ASIC’s temporary no-action position for digital asset businesses came to an end, bringing greater licensing requirements for firms operating across parts of the sector. The change comes as Digital Surge progresses through its own Australian Financial Services Licence application, while global markets enter the final quarter of the year under pressure from elevated bond yields. In the United States, regulators continued moving forward despite the CLARITY Act setback, and NEAR had an eventful week spanning institutional adoption, artificial intelligence and a new security incident. Australia’s crypto industry entered a new phase on 1 October following the expiry of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s sector-wide no-action position. The temporary arrangement had given digital asset businesses additional time to apply for or vary an Australian Financial Services Licence where their products or services fall within existing financial services laws. From 1 October, businesses that require authorisation but have not met the conditions of the relief risk operating in breach of financial services law, with ASIC warning that civil and criminal penalties may apply. The expiry follows ASIC’s updated Information Sheet 225, which clarified how existing financial services laws apply across parts of the digital asset industry. The guidance covers a broad range of businesses and products, including stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenised assets, wallets, exchanges and custody arrangements, depending on how they are structured. ASIC has now recorded more than 45 licence applications from businesses seeking relevant digital asset authorisations since the guidance was updated in October 2025. For Digital Surge, the transition is already underway. As shared in our recent business update, we have submitted our AFSL application to ASIC and it is progressing through the application process. These licensing requirements sit alongside Australia’s broader Digital Asset Framework, which is scheduled to introduce a dedicated regulatory regime for digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms from April 2027. Together, the changes represent a significant shift towards more formal oversight of Australia’s digital asset sector. The deadline arrives as crypto markets enter the fourth quarter, bringing renewed discussion around “Uptober”. October has historically been one of [Bitcoin](/buy/btc/)’s stronger months, recording an average return of around 20% according to CoinGlass data. September also bucked its traditionally weaker reputation this year, with Bitcoin gaining more than 7% during the month. Seasonality, however, is only one part of the picture. This October also marks one year since the 10 October 2025 flash crash, when more than US$19 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated following a sudden escalation in US-China trade tensions. The event became the largest liquidation episode recorded in crypto markets and demonstrated how quickly leverage and thin liquidity can turn a broader market shock into a much larger crypto sell-off. The macro environment is also creating a more difficult backdrop for another strong October. US government bond yields remain elevated heading into the new quarter, continuing to put pressure on financial conditions. Higher yields can weigh on Bitcoin and other risk assets because government bonds offer investors more competitive returns, while elevated borrowing costs can also reduce liquidity across financial markets. Bitcoin briefly rallied following softer US inflation data this week before giving back much of the move as Treasury yields remained elevated. Regulatory activity remained high in the United States as well. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against Cash FX Group and several individuals over an alleged US$950 million foreign-exchange investment scheme. According to the CFTC, participants were promised returns of up to 15% per week through trading strategies involving expert traders, algorithms and artificial intelligence. The regulator alleges that very little foreign exchange trading actually occurred and that new participant funds were instead used to pay purported returns to existing members. It estimates participants lost at least US$406 million. The enforcement action comes as the CFTC pursues a broader role in digital asset regulation. Following the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act last month, the agency submitted a regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets to the White House for review. The proposal remains at an early “prerule” stage and its detailed requirements have not yet been released, but it shows US regulators continuing to develop crypto rules using their existing authority while comprehensive legislation remains stalled in Congress. [NEAR](/buy/near/) Protocol rounded out a particularly busy week across Web3. Bitwise launched the first US spot exchange-traded product providing exposure to NEAR on 29 September, with the fund trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR. Bitwise also intends to stake the NEAR held by the fund, extending the growing range of crypto assets available through regulated US investment products. Beyond institutional markets, NEAR continued pushing deeper into artificial intelligence. NEAR AI Cloud became available as a provider through OpenRouter, giving developers another way to access its AI infrastructure, while the project continues to develop confidential computing services through its own platform. Developers also unveiled SPICE, a proposed new architecture designed to separate transaction execution from ordering and data availability. The aim is to reduce bottlenecks in NEAR’s sharded design and create greater flexibility for higher-performance applications. The week ended on a less positive note when NEAR Intents, a cross-chain trading protocol within the broader NEAR ecosystem, halted services following an exploit estimated at approximately US$3.8 million. The issue was traced to a vulnerability involving its Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and the NEAR Intents smart contract. The vulnerability was patched and the team said affected funds would be fully reimbursed, although some cross-chain deposits and withdrawals remained disrupted while additional infrastructure was repaired. The beginning of the fourth quarter leaves crypto with several competing forces to navigate. Australia is moving further towards formal licensing and oversight, US regulators are pressing ahead with digital asset rules, and institutional access continues expanding into assets such as NEAR. At the same time, elevated bond yields and continued Web3 security incidents provide reasons for caution. October has earned a strong reputation in crypto markets, but this year the interaction between institutional demand, regulation and global liquidity may matter far more than seasonality alone. **Other news:** - [Quant](/buy/qnt/) partners with The Clearing House - [Hyperliquid](/buy/hype/) plans institutional OTC sale - [Solana](/buy/sol/) ETF inflows hit weekly record - CoinMarketCap acquires CoinGlass About the editorial team The Digital Surge Editorial Team Our editorial team writes and reviews Digital Surge’s news, insights and crypto guides, pairing plain-English explanations with the practical experience of running an [Australian cryptocurrency exchange](/about-us/). We keep every article accurate, current and easy to act on. [Read our editorial guidelines ›](/editorial-guidelines/) News & Insights ## More from News [News This Week in Crypto: Bitcoin Gives Markets Some Clarity This week in crypto, Bitcoin climbed to a new yearly high as renewed ETF demand, improving regulatory sentiment and a wave of short liquidations… Read article →](/news/this-week-in-crypto-bitcoin-gives-markets-some-clarity/)[News This Week in Crypto: CLARITY Act Hits a Roadblock This week in crypto, the US Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, leaving the country's push for a comprehensive digital asset framework facing another delay. 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