On 16 March 2026, Australia moved closer to a nationwide crypto rulebook after the Senate Economics Legislation Committee recommended passing the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. The proposal would bring crypto exchanges and tokenised custody platforms into the existing financial services licensing system, including AFSL requirements and operational standards. Exemptions would apply to platforms under A$10 million in annual transaction volume, and the regime is expected to be in place by June 30, 2026.

An Australian Senate committee has recommended passing a bill that would place crypto exchanges and tokenization platforms under the Australian Financial Services Licence framework. The move, dated March 16, would classify certain digital asset platforms and tokenised custody services as financial products, while exempting smaller providers below 10 million Australian dollars ($7 million) in annual transactions.

An Australian Senate committee has recommended passing the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, which would require crypto platforms to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence. The proposal would regulate intermediaries such as digital asset platforms and tokenized custody providers, and includes definitions, custody and execution rules, and retail disclosure requirements. The bill was introduced in November 2025 and cleared its third reading in the House of Representatives on Feb. 4 before moving to the Senate on Feb. 5.

Mason Construction, a Beaumont, Texas-based construction company, has agreed to resolve a class action tied to a data breach with payments ranging from $55 to $5,000 per person. Eligible claimants may seek up to $5,000 for documented identity-theft or fraud losses incurred from January 6, 2024 to January 1, 2026, plus up to $500 for certain related expenses and $25 per hour for up to three hours spent responding. Claims must be submitted by June 1, and a final approval hearing is scheduled for June 4.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has ended its enforcement case against BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji, seeking dismissal with prejudice in a filing made last Thursday. The regulator said the decision followed a reassessment of the evidentiary record and referenced a crypto task force formed in January 2025. The SEC added that the outcome is specific to this matter and doesn't necessarily signal the same approach for similar cases.

Hong Kong's SFC set the cutoff for the legacy STREAMS platform at 12:00 AM on January 28, 2026, with a blackout until the morning of February 2, when STREAMS 2 becomes the only STR submission channel. During the gap, urgent STRs must be sent via email, phone, or fax. Paul Chan said stablecoin licensing will begin in Q1 2026, with HKMA approval and HK$25 million capital.

Bitwise Asset Management launched its first curated onchain vault on Morpho, aiming for up to 6% yield on USDC by deploying into over-collateralized lending markets while keeping user funds non-custodial. The firm oversees strategy and real-time risk and may add other stablecoins and DeFi approaches. Kraken also unveiled a vault-based "DeFi Earn" targeting up to 8% yields.

Matcha Meta, a DEX aggregator, reported a breach linked to liquidity provider SwapNet. Security firms tracked about $16.8 million drained, including ~10.5M USDC swapped for ~3,655 ETH on Base, with assets bridging to Ethereum. The team warned on January 25–26, 2026 that users should revoke approvals to the SwapNet router.