Digital assets brokerage Swyftx has been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) by corporate regulator ASIC.
The licence includes a non-cash payment facility authorisation, positioning the Brisbane and Melbourne-based fintech to offer payment services to business and retail clients in future.
The Swyftx Group was founded in 2019 by Brisbane entrepreneurs Alex Harper and Angus Goldman and now operates across markets including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Swyftx Interim Co-CEO Andrea Yuen said, “It’s an enormous responsibility to be a regulated financial service and we’ll continue to work non-stop to offer products that improve the lives of everyone who uses Swyftx.
“Looking ahead, we want to use a well-regulated Australian market as a base to expand our presence overseas and become the Web3 provider of choice for both domestic retail and business clients.”
Swyftx, which has more than a million clients across Australia, New Zealand and the United States, is one of the country’s largest brokerages.
The business last year acquired Easy Crypto, New Zealand’s largest digital currency brokerage. It also purchased boutique crypto brokerage and asset manager Caleb & Brown, which supports tens of thousands of high-net-worth clients across the United States and Australia.
Yuen added, “Blockchain technology offers the opportunity for significant productivity advantages in the local economy. We’re proud that Australian businesses like Swyftx are supporting access to a new technology.”
Swyftx’s licence includes retail derivatives, basic deposit products and NCP facility authorisations.