Digital Assets Framework Act 2026: AFS License Deadlines

Video transcript

Australia's Digital Assets Framework Act commences April 8, 2027. ASIC says platforms operating then must apply for a license or variation by October 7, 2027.

Crypto platform operators generally need an AFS license. The dates are set in law, but ASIC's standards are still drafts.

ASIC's consultation closes November 27. Final instruments are expected in March 2027, but that is ASIC's plan, not a legal deadline.

The window runs six months. Apply in time and you can keep operating while ASIC decides. Miss it, and the rules apply as soon as it closes.

The draft transactional standards carry the most systems work: timestamped records kept seven years, alerts for abnormal pricing, best execution, and free public market data.

The Act itself sets one duty, so it does not depend on consultation. Platforms need an enforceable written arrangement with every liquidity provider and market maker, and must monitor them and enforce it.

Start by identifying your business model. Then answer the consultation questions, list your providers, timestamp every order stage, rehearse interventions, and lodge in the window.

Guardian's readiness assessment maps the Act and ASIC's drafts provision by provision. We write your application's security and custody sections, backed by pentests and Managed Security monitoring. The legal reading stays with your counsel.

Read the full article, or talk to Guardian at guardian.security before the window opens.

Australia’s Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 passed Parliament on April 1, 2026. It received Royal Assent on April 8, 2026.

It makes two kinds of platform financial products, so their operators generally need an Australian financial services (AFS) license.

The legal dates are fixed. The standards that decide what a license demands are still drafts.

This article explains the technical and security side of the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026. It is not legal advice; confirm how it applies to you with counsel.

The Act in One Page

It amends the Corporations Act 2001 to create two new financial products.

• Digital asset platform (DAP): an operator possesses digital tokens for clients.
• Tokenised custody platform (TCP): an operator holds non-money assets, with one redeemable token each.

A digital token is a record someone can factually control: transfer it, stop others transferring it, and show they can do both.

Licensed operators take on three platform duties, each a civil penalty provision:

• comply with ASIC’s asset-holding and transactional and settlement standards (s912BB);
• have platform rules with the content the Act lists (s912BC); and
• obey any ministerial prohibition on certain transactions (s912BD).

Platform rules work as a contract between operator and clients. Where they conflict with the transactional and settlement standards, the standards prevail.

Small DAPs can be exempt from licensing. The test includes no financial products held, at most $10 million in transactions over 12 months, $5,000 per client, and a notice to ASIC.

Key Dates

Commencement is set by the Act. March 2027 is ASIC’s plan, not a legal deadline.

The Six-Month Window

The transition period, in a new Part 10.83 of the Corporations Act, is the six months starting on commencement.

During it, the new rules do not apply to a DAP or TCP service while the provider holds no AFS license authorizing that service. Two outcomes follow:

• If it applies in the window, the rules apply from the day after ASIC decides.
• If it does not apply, the rules apply as soon as the window closes.

ASIC’s summary: a platform operating on April 8, 2027 must apply for a license or variation by October 7, 2027, and can keep operating while ASIC assesses it.

Also note:

• Existing AFS licensees will likely need a variation to add DAP or TCP authorizations.
• ASIC proposes separate guidance on variations for the window.
• ASIC is considering publishing a list of firms that apply by October 7, 2027.

ASIC describes the window as being for existing firms. If you plan to launch during it, confirm your position with counsel.

What ASIC Will Publish

CP 392 previews the March 2027 package. ASIC calls the drafts preliminary and says they may change. Some rely on regulations the Government is still developing.

• Draft RG 000: guidance on licensing and DAP and TCP obligations.
• Asset-holding standards: safeguarding, reconciliation, wallet records and custodians.
• Transactional and settlement standards: orders, execution, settlement and market integrity.
• Financial requirements: three options for minimum net tangible assets, plus cash and audit rules.

We cover the asset-holding draft in ASIC CP 392: Asset-Holding Standards for Crypto Platforms. This guide covers the transactional side.

On capital, the fixed floors in ASIC’s three options run from $200,000, for some third-party custody setups, to $14 million.

On people, draft RG 000 says responsible managers should understand the technology used to provide the services.

Transactional and Settlement Standards

Section 912BF lets ASIC set standards for conduct around a platform’s underlying assets: execution models, client instructions and settlement.

The Act also limits ASIC. Its standards cannot stop a platform sourcing liquidity from overseas platforms, licensed in Australia or not.

The drafts sort duties by business model. These carry the most systems work:

Market makers and liquidity providers

This duty starts in the Act. Under section 912BF(3)(d), ASIC must be satisfied its standards require each platform to:

1. enter an enforceable written arrangement with every liquidity provider and market maker;
2. monitor that person’s activities or conduct under it; and
3. enforce the arrangement.

That floor is set by statute, so it does not depend on how consultation goes.

Draft section 22 fills in the detail. The operator must:

• monitor each provider’s performance, and its resources to keep providing the service;
• name every liquidity provider publicly on its website.

Where a provider’s orders are matched on the platform, the arrangement must give the operator a right to require its reasonable help with abnormal pricing and trading.

That covers pulled liquidity and widening spreads. The arrangement must not limit the operator’s intervention rights.

For most platforms, that means an inventory of every firm quoting on the venue, a contract for each, and surveillance that can tell one provider’s flow from another’s.

A Readiness Plan

Start with ASIC’s first step: identify your business model and the authorizations it needs. That decides which standards apply.

For how other regulators frame the same controls, see crypto regulatory compliance.

How Guardian Helps

Guardian’s regulatory readiness assessment maps the Act, ASIC’s draft standards and RG 133 provision by provision: the control, the evidence and the gap.

Guardian also writes the ICT, security, custody and continuity sections of an application from the system as built.

The evidence comes from testing: pentests of the apps and APIs that handle orders and withdrawals, and Managed Security monitoring. The legal reading stays with your counsel.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Digital Assets Framework Act commence?

On April 8, 2027: the day after the 12-month period that began when the Act received Royal Assent on April 8, 2026.

What is the deadline to apply for an AFS license?

ASIC says a platform operating on April 8, 2027 must apply for a license or variation by October 7, 2027. If it applies in time, it can keep operating until ASIC decides.

Does the Act cover market makers?

Through the platform. ASIC’s standards must require each platform to sign an enforceable written arrangement with every liquidity provider and market maker, monitor them and enforce it.

Are the ASIC standards final?

No. CP 392 is a consultation, with comments due November 27, 2026. ASIC plans to publish final instruments and guidance in March 2027, and says the drafts may change.

Sources

• Federal Register of Legislation: Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, No. 38, 2026 (assented April 8, 2026)
• ASIC: CP 392 Digital asset law reform implementation: Proposed standards and guidance (October 15, 2026)
• ASIC: Consultation Paper 392, full text (October 15, 2026)
• ASIC: Attachment 1 to CP 392, draft Regulatory Guide 000 Digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms (October 15, 2026)
• ASIC: Attachment 3 to CP 392, draft Transactional and Settlement Standards Instrument 2027/XX (October 15, 2026)
• ASIC: CP 392 consultation package walkthrough webinar slides (October 26, 2026)
• Guardian: Regulatory and Compliance Assessments