May election could open floodgates to institutional crypto: OKX Australia CEO

Australia’s subsequent federal election, set for mid-May, could be a key inflection level for institutional crypto participation, in accordance to crypto change OKX Australia’s newly appointed CEO.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, OKX Australia CEO Kate Cooper stated one among her hopes for the upcoming election is the introduction of the crypto laws that’s already been designed and consulted on for the final two years.

In August 2022, the Australian authorities introduced that it could provoke a collection of consultations with trade gamers, traders and stakeholders to begin drafting a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency sector. 

“I think the industry as a whole has been crying out for clarity of regulation and also fit-for-purpose regulation,” she stated.

There is already an influx of retail customers thanks to the present bull market, in accordance to Cooper, however regulatory readability will spur better institutional adoption.

Before taking the helm at OKX on March 6, Cooper had stints at main Australian banks NAB, the place she was govt of digital property and head of innovation, and at Westpac as the pinnacle of innovation.

She was additionally the Australian CEO of the institutional crypto platform Zodia Custody.

“Certainly, when I was at NAB, the key barrier to really entering or moving beyond the proof-of-concept stage was regulatory clarity,” she stated. 

“I think for institutional adoption to take hold, we need regulatory clarity. I think for retail consumers, almost a third of Australians already hold some form of digital asset, mostly cryptocurrencies; they need protection.”

A change of presidency could be on the horizon for Australia, with a federal election set to be held on or earlier than May 17.

The two main contenders are the center-right coalition and the present authorities, the center-left Labor social gathering. The newest YouGov ballot reveals the coalition holding a slight lead over the Labor authorities, main 51% to 49%.

Meanwhile, crypto traders could be an influential voting bloc, with a Feb. 19 YouGov survey of two,031 Australian voters discovering that 59% of present crypto traders are extra probably to vote for a pro-crypto candidate.

If the victorious social gathering have been to implement laws, Cooper predicts “a proliferation of activity with stablecoins” could comply with.

“Globally, we saw 2024 as the year of the stablecoin, moving out of proofs-of-concept and into real-world applications,” she stated.

“Assuming there’s clarity provided with a new regulatory framework, I know for a fact there are players in Australia who are poised to be able to jump on that opportunity.”

Related: Australian crypto traders ‘sitting on the sidelines’ for clearer legal guidelines: Swyftx CEO

Stablecoins noticed huge adoption in 2024, with annual stablecoin switch quantity reaching $27.6 trillion, surpassing the mixed volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%, in accordance to a Jan. 31 report by crypto change CEX.io.

Cooper says the banking group, for one, is already participating in crypto and digital property extra broadly as the primary new asset class in 25 years.

“It’s been a long journey, but certainly, we’re seeing an increased maturity in banks adopting. I think we’re moving […] to tangible, real-world use cases,” she added.

Leading into the election, it’s understood Australia’s present ruling social gathering has no plans to set up a crypto reserve, regardless of US President Donald Trump saying the hassle within the United States on March 2.

Cooper says the choice is comprehensible as a result of “Australia has more of a conservative watch and see what other jurisdictions do” method.

However, she thinks no matter who wins the election, they want to deal with how Australia will place itself as a pacesetter within the digital economic system and create a technique to capitalize on blockchain’s potential.

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