Build it here or import later – that’s the warning from BTC Markets CEO Lucas Dobbins, who says Australia is at a critical institutional crossroads in digital finance infrastructure.
According to Dobbins, Australia risks becoming a consumer of offshore digital finance infrastructure rather than a builder of its own domestic systems, unless local operators move quickly to develop regulated, institutional-grade market infrastructure.
Speaking at the recent DECA Conference in Sydney, Dobbins said Australia already has the regulatory signals and technical foundations needed to modernise its financial market infrastructure.
The real question, he argued, is whether that infrastructure is built under Australian law, supervised by Australian regulators, and operated by Australian market participants.
“Australia has modelled what next-generation market infrastructure could look like,” Dobbins said.
“Regulators have made clear that innovation sits within their remit. The question now is who builds it, where it is built, and under whose rules it operates.”
Several industry leaders have recently highlighted how Project Acacia has demonstrated Australia’s ability to develop and test advanced digital finance infrastructure locally. The challenge now, they argue, is whether the industry can coordinate quickly enough to scale institutional-grade systems onshore.
“[Project Acacia] tested wholesale digital asset use cases, including tokenised assets, stablecoins and a pilot central bank digital currency, showing how these systems could operate together in a regulated environment,” Dobbins said.
“Project Acacia has shown that tokenised assets, digital money and regulated market infrastructure can work together,” he said. “That moves the conversation from proof of concept to implementation.”
“This is not a technology question anymore. It is an execution question.”
BTC Markets said sovereign digital finance infrastructure is critical to Australia’s long-term competitiveness, market resilience, and regulatory oversight.
The company also pointed to global developments as evidence that control over financial infrastructure is increasingly shaped by national policy, geopolitical priorities, and regulatory permissions – particularly as access to payments systems and digital asset networks becomes more jurisdictionally sensitive.
Dobbins is urging market participants to help move the industry from blueprint to implementation. He said the next phase of Australia’s digital asset market will be defined not by speculation, but by regulated infrastructure, institutional participation, and market-grade accountability.
“Other markets are moving from pilots to implementation,” he said. “Capital, talent and liquidity will follow the jurisdictions where trusted infrastructure is live.”
“This is not about any single institution,” he said. “It is about whether Australia builds the rails for the next phase of financial markets here or waits to connect to someone else’s system later.”
On the regulatory front, Australia’s new crypto framework – the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 – has officially passed Parliament and received Royal Assent in April 2026. It brings crypto exchanges, custodians, and digital wallet providers under the traditional financial services licensing regime.
The immediate next step is an 18-month industry implementation period as the sector adapts to the new requirements.
Internationally, the US GENIUS Act has already been signed into law, while the Clarity Act remains in a narrow legislative window as it moves through the Senate process. Although the House passed its version last year, the final bill must be reconciled across committees and approved before the August recess, or it risks stalling amid the US midterm election cycle.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, global private equity and venture capital investment in cryptocurrency rose for a second consecutive year, reaching US$12.94 billion in 2025. The firm also notes that passage of the proposed Clarity Act could further lift investment by establishing a clearer regulatory framework for crypto and blockchain markets.
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