Australia should change laws to accommodate crypto, Senate report says

Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, Ripple, Litecoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia needs to introduce new regulations for digital asset miners, such as tax discounts and a licensing regime for crypto exchanges, to be "competitive with Singapore, the UK and the U.S.", a Senate report said.

The report, published by the Senate's Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre on Wednesday, also calls for clarity on rules about when banks can refuse to deal with a business customer involved in cryptocurrency.