‘The penny didn’t drop’ for Australia’s next crypto unicorns — Coinbase APAC MD

Australia is poised for the next wave of crypto “unicorns” – startups valued at billions of dollars – but not until there is more regulatory clarity around crypto, according to Coinbase's APAC managing director John O'Loughlen.

“I don't think a penny has dropped in Canberra or on the high street about how great human resources there are in Australia,” O'Loghlen told Cointelegraph – referring to policymakers and big institutional players.

“It's critical that we get this clarity in the law around digital assets so that the sector can get properly funded and give the VC community and other investors the certainty around it that we can continue to build the next illuvium or immutability.”

O'Loghlen said that while there had been some regulatory progress – including the Treasury's October 2023 consultation paper and an informal regulatory meeting with policymakers at the Blockchain APAC summit in March – it still lagged behind strong growth in retail and institutional demand. for crypto.

In the year According to a 2024 investor survey from the independent crypto exchange Reserve of Australia, approximately 27.5% of all Australians – 7.15 million people – now own cryptocurrency. According to the survey, 35% of Australian crypto investors put around $500 per month into digital assets.

Ologlen pointed to growing demand for Statcoins, digital remittances and other capital-saving crypto applications in Australia's fintech industry as prime breeding grounds for the next multi-billion crypto company.

“Some of these companies are really going to be the next Canva, the next Xero, the next Atlassian or the next Payer,” he said, naming several multibillion-dollar companies in Australia.

Ologlen sees a significant increase in demand for crypto products on the retail side – highlighting its focus on two main areas.

The first is the increased interest of self-managed pension funds in getting into crypto, which O'Loughlen says is small but significant relative to the size of their portfolios.

“Even though [0.5%] Or 1% allocation, when the audience invests, the investment amount is a large multiple of the number. [younger] Groups, because their assets under management are very large.

The next most exciting group of investors entering the market are what O'Loughlin calls “HENRYs” – an internal acronym that stands for “high earners who are not yet rich.”

“These are professionals who don't have a lot of debt, don't have a lot of credit, have good earning potential and are taking the time to educate themselves on crypto.” he said.

Related: Australians don't value retail CBCC for privacy or security, RBA finds

Looking ahead, O'Loghlen revealed that Coinbase is looking to expand its Stand with Crypto campaign to Australia later this year.

He said Coinbase plans to fly in its senior management members to host several events to help regulators and policymakers better understand the potential upsides of cryptocurrency in the country.

“It's important that people in Canberra – government representatives and policy makers – can see real use cases for entrepreneurs and founders who are raising money and benefiting from crypto,” he said.

O'Glen's comments, Kraken Australia MD Jonathon Miller told Cointelegraph that the current market conditions represent an “inflection point” for crypto in Australia.

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