Australian crypto entrepreneur and investor Fred Schebesta described the Australian government’s prioritization of token mapping as “fantastic” but warned that the rush could have detrimental effects on the economy.
Schebesta’s comments came after Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in 2016 After issuing a statement on August 22, the Treasury will prioritize token mapping in 2022 to show “how to regulate crypto-assets and related services.”
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Schebesta believes Australia already has a “robust” crypto industry, but it “needs to catch up with other major markets and their regulations”.
Schebesta added that the “complexities” of token mapping are unclear and “things are changing.”
Schebesta is an Australian entrepreneur and investor – best known as the co-founder of Finder, an Australian comparison website. Schebesta is the co-founder of crypto investment fund Hive Empire Capital and an advisor to NFT gaming platform Balthazar.
If “what’s the hurry” — the token mapping could turn crypto companies away, especially if there is a “very different approach” to other countries.
Schebesta stressed that it’s not time to “rush,” but take the time to “take it easy and really do some deep analysis.”
Australia’s new Labor government’s announcement of a token map comes three months after taking office, breaking a long silence on how to approach crypto regulation in the country.
According to then-treasurer Chalmers, the government wants to reign in the “largely unregulated” crypto sector.
“In its current state, the crypto sector is largely unregulated, and we need to do some work to balance it to accept new and emerging technologies,” he said.
Related: Australia’s new government will finally reveal its position on crypto regulation
While many in the industry hailed the announcement as an “important step” for the industry, some were disappointed that the country had not moved down the road to regulatory certainty.
Australian lawyer Liam Hennessy, a partner at Gadens Cointelegraph said that Australia was “at the forefront of crypto developments”, but the country is “slowly falling behind the United Kingdom and the United States”. The crypto industry, especially those in financial services.
Hennessey believes that while token mapping is important, it should not be the primary focus of regulators.
“It should come second to creating some tax laws and regulations around licensing that we can give to our businesses that really need to be heard in order to compete with our international competitors.”
He fears Australia has fallen into the trap of “thinking that a little attention from the government will solve the problems”, which he believes the token mapping “shows to some extent”.
Shebesta in 2010 He told a Senate hearing in 2021 that “there will be a lot of new businesses flooding into Australia”. […] “Because it’s a safe, stable and highly regulated place to build their business,” he said, adding that “tens of thousands” of jobs will be created in the next two to three years.