Your slice of crypto.

What to Check Before Choosing a Crypto Platform

Owen Calder
Published
Illustration: a bakery shopfront with a blank sign and a pie in the window, beside a clipboard checklist with ticks, one question mark and a magnifying glass.

Last checked 18 October 2026

About this guide

This guide is general information only. It is not financial, legal or tax advice. It doesn’t rank, recommend or name crypto platforms, and it contains no affiliate links. It is based on Australian legislation and regulator publications, not on testing any platform. Australia’s rules for crypto platforms change from 8 April 2027, so check the date above.

A crypto platform, often called an exchange, is a business that lets you buy and sell crypto, and often holds it for you. Before you open an account, you can find out a lot about any platform: how it is regulated, who will hold your crypto, what it costs, how you get your money and crypto out, how your account is protected, how complaints work, and what records you can download.

This guide covers what to check, and what each check can and can’t tell you. It doesn’t tell you which platform to use. For the steps of a first purchase, see How to Buy Crypto Safely in Australia.

Is it registered with AUSTRAC?

AUSTRAC says it’s illegal to provide virtual asset services in Australia without being registered with it. Those services include exchanging virtual assets, such as crypto, for money or for other virtual assets, and keeping them safe for customers.

AUSTRAC’s Virtual Asset Service Provider Register lets you check whether a business is registered before you use it. Look for the business that will actually hold your account, which may trade under a different brand. AUSTRAC can suspend, cancel or refuse to renew a registration, and it can publish those decisions, so check the current status rather than relying on a claim on the platform’s own website.

What AUSTRAC registration tells you

The business is registered with AUSTRAC and, in AUSTRAC’s words, “operating under AUSTRAC’s oversight”. That oversight is part of Australia’s effort against money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious crime.

What it doesn’t tell you

Whether the business holds an ASIC licence. That’s a separate check, below. It also doesn’t tell you whether your money or crypto would be protected if the platform failed or was hacked. Moneysmart warns that many crypto providers aren’t licensed, and that this means you may not be protected if a platform fails or is hacked.

Does it hold an ASIC licence, and for what?

Some crypto products are financial products under current law, and businesses providing financial services involving them generally need an Australian financial services (AFS) licence from ASIC. Not everything is a financial product: ASIC says bitcoin itself is unlikely to be one. Moneysmart says many crypto providers aren’t licensed at present.

If a platform says it holds an AFS licence, ASIC suggests checking the licence holder’s name and number on ASIC’s professional registers, and making sure they match the business you’re dealing with. ASIC warns that scammers claim licences they don’t hold, use another business’s licence number, or impersonate licensed businesses. Avoiding Crypto Scams and Staying Safe covers copies of real platforms and fake support staff.

If it offers more than buying and selling

Some platforms also offer other products, and ASIC’s guidance treats them differently from buying a crypto asset such as bitcoin, and differently from each other. Derivatives that reference crypto assets, such as contracts for difference (CFDs) and futures, are likely to be financial products. Staking services that a business runs for you may be financial products, depending on their terms. Whether a stablecoin is a financial product depends on its features and arrangements, such as how it is issued and redeemed and whether it is used to make payments; ASIC says each product needs to be assessed on its own facts. The financial services laws ASIC administers protect you only to the extent they apply, so if a platform offers any of these, ask whether its licence covers that product.

What changes from 8 April 2027

This section describes the law as passed, and ASIC’s published proposals, as at 18 October 2026.

The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 commences on 8 April 2027. From then, two new kinds of arrangement become financial products:

  • a digital asset platform, where a business holds digital tokens, such as crypto assets, for its customers: for example as a trustee, or under an obligation to deal with them on the customer’s instructions;
  • a tokenised custody platform, a related arrangement with its own legal definition.

ASIC says firms operating them will need to apply for an AFS licence (or vary an existing one), give customers disclosure documents and platform rules, and meet standards on holding assets, trading and settlement, and financial requirements where relevant. Whether a particular business is covered depends on how it operates.

There is also a narrow exemption for issuing a small digital asset platform. A business doesn’t need a licence to issue (that is, operate) a qualifying digital asset platform if no financial products are held on any digital asset platform run by it or its closely related group, the statutory limits on total transactions and on each customer’s entry value are met, and it has notified ASIC. A token’s entry value is its market value when the platform starts holding it. The exemption covers issuing the platform. It isn’t a general exemption for everything the business does.

The new requirements also don’t apply to everyone from the first day:

  • For the first six months, they don’t apply to a business providing these services while it doesn’t hold a licence that covers them.
  • If the business applies to ASIC for that licence during those six months, the new requirements don’t apply to it until the day after ASIC decides its application.

This delay applies only to the new requirements. It doesn’t switch off obligations that already apply under existing law: ASIC says businesses must keep complying with existing licensing requirements while the reforms are implemented. So a platform operating after 8 April 2027 isn’t necessarily licensed under the new rules. Check, rather than assume.

ASIC is consulting on the detailed standards licensed platforms will have to meet. Its proposals, published on 15 October 2026, include holding customers’ assets on trust for them, safeguarding customers’ assets and money and keeping them appropriately separate, and rules for any fees, delays, suspensions or refusals of withdrawals. They’re proposals, open for comment until 27 November 2026, and ASIC says the final versions may change considerably.

Who will hold your crypto?

With platform custody, the platform controls the keys to your crypto on your behalf. With self-custody, you hold the keys yourself. What Is a Crypto Wallet? explains the difference, and Understanding Private Keys & Seed Phrases covers keeping keys safe.

For a platform that holds crypto for you, ask:

  • Can you withdraw your crypto to a wallet you control, and on which networks?
  • Who actually holds customers’ crypto and money: the platform itself, or another business it uses?
  • What do the terms say happens to customers’ holdings if the platform fails?
  • Does the platform use customers’ crypto for anything, such as lending or staking, and does it ask you first?
  • If it describes your holdings as insured, guaranteed or protected, what exactly is covered, by whom, and where is that written down?

Don’t assume that money or crypto held through a platform is covered by the Financial Claims Scheme. That scheme protects deposits in Australian dollars held with banks, building societies and credit unions incorporated in Australia, up to $250,000 per account holder per institution. Ask the platform where Australian dollars you deposit with it are held.

What will it cost?

Ask what the platform charges to buy and sell, to deposit and withdraw Australian dollars, and to send crypto out, including any network fee for sending crypto on a blockchain.

The spread. A platform may show one price to buy a crypto asset and a lower price to sell it at the same moment. The gap is the spread: Moneysmart defines it as the difference between the bid price and the ask price for an asset. If you bought at the higher price and immediately sold at the lower one, you would get back less than you paid, even if the market hadn’t moved. So the spread can be part of what a trade costs you even when no separate fee is shown. It’s already reflected in the prices you’re quoted, not added on top of them. It also isn’t necessarily a charge the platform sets: in a market, it’s the difference between what buyers are bidding and what sellers are asking.

The figure that matters is the total: how many Australian dollars you pay, including any fees charged separately, and how much crypto you receive.

Can you get your money and crypto out?

Ask:

  • How do you withdraw Australian dollars to your own bank account, how long does it take, and what does it cost?
  • What does it cost to send crypto out, and is there a minimum?
  • Are there limits on withdrawals, or holding periods after you deposit?
  • What do the terms say about when the platform can delay, limit or suspend withdrawals, or close your account?

Look for the answers in the platform’s terms, not only in its marketing.

How is your account protected?

Multi-factor authentication means extra checks to prove it’s you when you sign in. The Australian Cyber Security Centre says it makes it harder for someone to access your account. Ask:

  • Does the platform offer multi-factor authentication, and which kinds: for example an authenticator app, a security key or SMS codes?
  • Does it alert you to logins, password changes and withdrawals?
  • Can you restrict withdrawals to wallet addresses you’ve approved in advance?
  • What does it publish about how it secures customers’ crypto?

Reach a platform only through a website address or app you’ve checked yourself, and contact it using details you found yourself, as ASIC advises.

How do support and complaints work?

Ask how you can reach support, how the platform handles a formal complaint, and how long it takes.

If you can’t resolve a complaint with a financial business, Moneysmart says you can take it to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which is free. AFCA can only take a dispute about a business that is an AFCA member, and its find a financial firm tool shows whether a business is one. AFCA said on 1 October 2026 that more people using crypto products can now bring disputes to it, after ASIC clarified when crypto products are financial products.

What AFCA membership does

Gives you a free, independent place to take an eligible complaint that you couldn’t resolve with the business.

What it doesn’t do

Make every complaint eligible. AFCA applies its own rules to decide whether it can consider a particular complaint. AFCA says membership is not an endorsement of the business or its services.

Can you download your records?

The ATO advises exporting your transaction history regularly, at least every three months, in case you lose access to your account, and exporting your complete history before closing an account. So ask: can you download your full transaction history, including fees, in a file you can keep, and how far back does it go?

Keeping Crypto Records From Day One covers what to keep and how. Crypto Taxes in Australia explains how crypto is taxed.

What these checks can’t tell you

The checks above give you useful evidence about a business. They can’t guarantee that your crypto is safe, that you’d get money back if something went wrong, or that you’re dealing with the genuine business:

  • Value. The checks are about the business, not the crypto asset. Moneysmart warns that if a crypto asset fails, you will most likely lose all the money you put in, and that anyone buying crypto should be prepared to lose everything they put in.
  • Protection and recovery. Moneysmart says you’re only protected to the extent that crypto fits within existing laws, and that you may not be protected if an unlicensed platform fails or is hacked.
  • Authenticity. ASIC warns that scam networks use spoof websites, fake reviews and fabricated news articles to look legitimate, and misuse real businesses’ licence details. ASIC advises checking website addresses, and using contact details you find yourself.

Questions to ask before you sign up

  • Is the business that will hold my account on AUSTRAC’s register, and is its registration current?
  • Does it claim an AFS licence? Do the name and number match ASIC’s register, and what does the licence cover?
  • Do any products I’m considering, such as derivatives, staking or stablecoins, come under different rules?
  • If I’m reading this after 8 April 2027: is the platform licensed under the new rules, still within the transition, or relying on a qualifying exemption?
  • Who holds my crypto and money, and can I withdraw crypto to a wallet I control?
  • What do the terms say happens to my holdings if the platform fails?
  • What will I pay in total, including fees and the spread?
  • How do I withdraw Australian dollars, how long does it take, and when can withdrawals be limited or suspended?
  • What multi-factor authentication and account alerts does it offer?
  • How do I complain, and is it an AFCA member?
  • Can I download my full transaction history?

Sources

Last checked 18 October 2026.

Previous article:
Next article: