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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
This year over its staking services, where it agreed to a suspension and a USD$30million civil penalty.As the SEC intensifies its crackdown on crypto companies likeKraken and Binance, questions will continue to persist over a"regulation by enforcement" strategy. This approach, asseen in previous actions against blockchain industry players, is aninefficient way of guiding a growing industry into compliance andrisks stifling blockchain innovation and also arguably causesunnecessary harm to consumers.Where laws are clear, such as anti-money laundering, theindustry has shown great progress in meeting compliancerequirements (and where businesses have breached these laws theyhave suffered the consequences).A continued regulation by enforcement may lead to the US pushinginnovation away to jurisdictions where regulations and regulatorsare more welcoming. A constructive dialogue and providing clearguidelines will be essential to avoid hampering the transformativepotential of blockchain technology and driving innovation beyondits regulatory grasp, but that goal seems increasingly out ofreach, no matter how many appendages reach for it.New e-signature law for stat decs takeseffectA new law which makes permanent the use of electronic signaturesand introduces a new digital execution option for Commonwealthstatutory declarations received Royal Assent last week. Accordingto the Attorney-General who introduced the bill, this marks asignificant milestone that will "save Australian time and money".What changed?The Statutory Declarations Amendment Act 2023(Act) amends the Statutory DeclarationsAct 1959 to expand the ways in which statutory declarationscan be executed under Commonwealth law. These will include:traditional paper-based execution, requiring wet-ink signaturesand in person witnessing;electronic execution, through the application of an electronicsignature and witnessing via an audio-visual communication link;anddigital execution through the use of a prescribed onlineplatform that verifies the identity of the declarant through aprescribed digital identity service provider.The technical requirements and conditions regarding digitalverification are not in the Act but are to be prescribed byregulation. Importantly, the new digital option would notrequire the declaration to be witnessed.All three methods will be an equally valid and legally effectiveform of Commonwealth statutory declaration. The Act will enablepeople to digitally execute a statutory declaration using theonline platform myGov and the myGov ID Digital ID upon theaccompanying government regulations coming into effect. It is notyet known whether the Commonwealth will endorse the
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