Professional services network company Ernst & Young (EY) and digital asset infrastructure company Mawson Infrastructure Group (Mawson) have released a combined report regarding the state and future of digital assets in Australia.
The report sets out the current state of the sector and provides an overview of the ecosystem and estimated economic impacts of future growth. The three main benefits the report outlines for the adoption of blockchain technology, cryptocurrency and digital assets are transparency & trust, security and ease.
An important note within the report is the need to recognise the value of the sector to Australia’s future digital economy. The market value of the digital asset ecosystem globally is AUD$2.8 trillion, while global funding is up 384% since 2020, the number of deals is up 24% and the average deal size has tripled.
The value of the industry is reflected in the increase of Australians who have invested or plan to invest in cryptocurrencies currently sitting at 28.8%, up from 18.4% last year. This increase is mirrored by the increase in opportunities and potential value of five key industries, namely Financial Services, Custody, Asset Management, Data Management and Cryptocurrency Insurance.
With the sustained and expected growth of the industry, the report expects an increase of value of AUD$250 billion over the next 10 years from the AUD$2.1 billion that digital assets contributed to Australia in 2021. This would mean the cryptocurrency, digital asset and blockchain economy would trump Australia’s tourism, agriculture and energy industries.
In order to capitalise on the industries value, the report suggests a fit for purpose regulatory system for crypto’s, upskilling the future workforce and greater certainty around tax implications from trading digital assets.
While we’ve previously written about the Senate Report, and regulation is closer than ever, the EY and Mawson report outlines investor protection, market integrity and law enforcement as the main roadblocks to Australia’s growth.