• ASIC opened consultation on 15 October 2026; it closes 27 November 2026, per CoinDesk.
• Proposed standards cover segregation and safeguarding of customer assets, trading transparency, settlement and financial resources.
• Rules take effect 8 April 2027; existing firms must apply for a licence by 7 October 2027 and may keep operating while ASIC reviews their applications.
• Stablecoins used for payments are reported to sit under separate payment-services reforms, not this package.
• Operators should map custody, conflict and order-handling controls to the draft now, before the consultation closes.

ASIC opened a consultation on 15 October 2026 on stricter standards for crypto exchanges and digital asset custodians, CoinDesk reports. The package targets how customer assets are held, how trading is run and how much capital operators keep. It arrives ahead of a licensing deadline that gives existing firms until 7 October 2027 to apply. For operators, the draft is a compliance roadmap with fixed dates.

What the draft standards cover

The proposals centre on custody and market conduct. CoinDesk reports they would require customer assets to be separated and safeguarded, and set expectations for trading transparency, settlement procedures and financial resources. Trading rules would address market manipulation, conflicts of interest and how exchanges handle customer orders. The detail of each requirement sits in the consultation document itself, which readers should check before relying on this summary.

The timeline operators must plan against

The consultation closes on 27 November 2026, according to CoinDesk. Final guidance and standards are expected in March 2027 and the rules take effect on 8 April 2027. Existing firms then have until 7 October 2027 to apply for a licence, and CoinDesk reports they can keep operating while ASIC reviews their applications. That leaves roughly six months between the effective date and the application cut-off.

Why the regulator frames it as same risk, same outcome

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland described the approach as "same activity, same risk, same regulatory outcome", per CoinDesk. That is consistent with ASIC's earlier position, set out in its December 2024 consultation on updates to its digital asset guidance, that existing financial services licensing logic applies to digital asset businesses. The practical reading is that exchanges should expect obligations modelled on traditional market operators, not a bespoke lighter regime.

Scale of the licensing queue

CoinDesk reports ASIC has received more than 140 applications from businesses seeking authorisation for digital asset-related financial services, and that Parliament passed the underlying legislation in April 2026. Those counts are as reported by CoinDesk and have not been independently checked here. A queue of that size suggests review capacity, not just rule drafting, will shape how smoothly the transition runs for firms still waiting.

What this means for operators

Exchanges and custodians should treat the open consultation as the window to test their own controls against the draft. The concrete actions are to document how client assets are segregated from firm assets, to inventory conflicts of interest in order handling, and to model financial resource requirements before the 27 November close. CoinDesk's reference to FTX, which left about 30,000 Australian customers unable to access funds, explains why custody is the focus.

What remains outside the package

Payment stablecoins are reported to be handled separately under Australia's payment services reforms, so this consultation does not settle their treatment. Firms with both exchange and stablecoin payment activity may therefore face two regulatory tracks with different timelines. The next markers to watch are the close of consultation on 27 November 2026 and the final standards expected in March 2027.