Australia could see tokenised ETFs or commodity indexes launched within months, as digital asset firms race to position themselves within the country’s emerging crypto regulatory framework following Project Acacia.
Speaking to InvestorDaily, executives from BTC Markets said the company is moving towards building a “mini ASX for digital assets”, with institutional demand for tokenised products accelerating as regulators, brokers and issuers gain confidence in the sector.
“There’s growing interest from institutional clients, issuers who want to start to issue products in this new world,” BTC Markets chief commercial officer Paul Stonham said.
“There’s a clear roadmap emerging. We’re likely to see tokenised ETFs and commodities first, followed by tokenised deposits and potentially equities. However, for equities, there are complexities around registry systems and legal ownership rights.”
CEO Lucas Dobbins said from an institutional perspective, the focus is on integration.
“Institutions want access to new asset classes, but within systems that are compatible with existing infrastructure and risk frameworks,” he told Investor Daily.
“There’s also increasing interest from issuers who want to launch tokenised products because of the efficiency benefits – particularly around settlement speed and distribution.”
According to Stonham, the RBA’s Project Acacia report marks a turning point for the local market, pointing to initiatives including tokenised government bond programs, a digital asset infrastructure sandbox and an interagency regulatory working group as evidence of growing coordination across Reserve Bank of Australia, ASIC, government and industry.
“I think people will find it fascinating, particularly the level of coordination between the RBA, ASIC, the government, and industry participants,” Stonham said.
“There’s clearly strong alignment across stakeholders who want to see this move forward.”
The exchange, which is pursuing a markets licence under Australia’s incoming digital asset regime, said clearer regulation will help distinguish domestic operators from offshore exchanges and give brokers, institutional investors and consumers greater confidence around custody, compliance and counterparty risk.
“Clarity is essential. Moving forward, firms will need to clearly identify whether they are operating as a broker, an exchange, or another type of market participant under ASIC’s framework,” he said.
“This will help both institutions and consumers understand where their orders are going, how their assets are being handled, and what jurisdiction and protections apply.”
Dobbins added that a purpose-built exchange model for digital assets remains missing in the market.
“What’s been missing is a proper exchange or market operator purpose-built for this new environment. I think incumbents have been slow to engage in that space, which creates opportunity for new entrants,” he said.
“Being part of initiatives like regulatory sandboxes is a big step forward for the industry.”
Tokenisation is rapidly shifting from a crypto-native concept into mainstream financial infrastructure, with issuers increasingly exploring tokenised ETFs, commodities and other instruments that can trade and settle in real time.
Stonham said tokenised products could reduce settlement delays and improve access to funds and assets, while enabling brokers and wealth platforms to expand product offerings as demand for digital asset exposure grows.
He said the shift would depend heavily on regulatory clarity and infrastructure readiness, noting Australia’s approach – focusing on regulating platforms rather than individual assets—would shape how quickly products reach the market compared with jurisdictions such as the United States.
“It really comes down to trust and clarity,” Stonham said.
“A licensing framework is central to that. Coming from a traditional financial markets background – having worked at the ASX and other exchanges – terminology matters. When someone calls themselves an “exchange,” that implies a regulated market operator with specific responsibilities.”
While the US is leading in development, Dobbins said the regulatory philosophy there differs from the mindset in Australia.
“The approaches are quite different,” he said. “The US tends to regulate by defining the asset class more explicitly, whereas Australia is focusing more on regulating the platforms and intermediaries.”
“Both approaches aim for the same outcome – greater clarity – but they take different regulatory paths.”
Stonham also warned investors to distinguish between true tokenised ownership and products that merely track underlying assets, noting some structures may not confer shareholder rights such as voting or direct beneficial ownership.
He said tokenisation would likely evolve gradually from “digital twin” representations of existing assets toward fully native on-chain issuance, but added that this would require significant upgrades to registry, clearing and settlement infrastructure.
On stablecoins, Stonham said they are increasingly viewed as core financial infrastructure rather than niche crypto instruments, with potential use cases spanning trading, settlement and competition with tokenised bank deposits in yield-bearing environments.
“Stablecoins are increasingly being viewed as part of financial infrastructure rather than speculative crypto assets,” he told Investor Daily.
The emergence of competing digital cash instruments—including stablecoins and tokenised deposits—will likely shape how institutions settle and store value as speed, yield and regulatory certainty become key decision factors.
BTC Markets’ immediate focus is securing its markets licence under the new framework, enabling it to operate as a regulated venue for a broader range of digital asset products, including potential tokenised securities and exchange-traded instruments.
Dobbins said becoming a licensed market operator would be a key milestone, allowing closer collaboration with issuers and institutional counterparties to bring regulated digital asset products to Australian investors.
“Our biggest focus is the work we need to do alongside ASIC collaboratively to get our markets license.”
