Ten crypto terms you will see a lot more of, translated

Australia's new digital asset law brings a new vocabulary with it. Exchanges will be using these words from 2027. Here is what they mean in plain English.

Australia's crypto platforms are heading into a new regime. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 received royal assent in April 2026 and commences on 9 April 2027, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). With it comes a set of legal terms that will start appearing on exchange websites, in terms and conditions and in the fine print of every app that holds crypto for customers. These are the ten worth knowing.

The main category in the new law. A DAP is a business that holds digital tokens on behalf of its customers and records what each customer owns. Most crypto exchanges, custodial wallets and brokers that hold coins for clients fall into this group, according to law firm Squire Patton Boggs.

A business that holds a real-world asset, such as gold bullion or property, and issues one digital token for each asset, giving the holder the right to redeem it. Think of it as a digital receipt for something stored in a vault.

The basic unit. Squire Patton Boggs describes it as "a record stored on a computer network that can represent ownership of something, including but not limited to money, shares, property or even a piece of gold." Bitcoin and a token representing a gold bar would both fit that description.

The process of creating a digital token that represents a real-world asset, so it can be bought, sold or transferred more easily.

Holding assets on someone else's behalf. The new law is built around custody: if a business holds your tokens for you, it is likely to need a licence.

The licence that stockbrokers and fund managers already need. Under the new law, DAP and TCP operators must hold one too, which brings them under ASIC's general rules on conduct, competence and complaint handling.

A disclosure document platforms must publish, setting out how customer assets are held and what customers' rights are. Law firm Barry Nilsson describes it as replacing the product disclosure statement used for other financial products.

Small operators are exempt from licensing if they hold less than A$5,000 per customer and handle under A$10 million in transactions a year. If you use a very small platform, it may not be licensed at all.

Staking is locking up tokens to help run a blockchain in return for rewards. When a platform does this on a customer's behalf, it is custodial staking. The new framework treats these arrangements as exempt from being classed as financial products, according to Gilbert + Tobin.

A token designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a currency such as the US dollar. Stablecoins are not governed by this law. Barry Nilsson notes they are being handled separately under payments licensing reforms.

A final caution. Several of these terms will be shaped further by ASIC guidance and standards before the law commences, and the regulator plans to consult on how platforms hold assets and settle transactions. Treat the definitions as a guide to the direction of travel rather than the final word.

Most of this vocabulary is aimed at the businesses holding your crypto rather than the coins themselves, and that is the point. The two words that matter most for ordinary users are custody and licence. If a platform holds your tokens, from 2027 it should hold an AFS licence and publish a guide explaining exactly how. We expect the platform guide to become the most useful document in Australian crypto, because it will force operators to say plainly where customer assets sit. Read it before you deposit, and be wary of any platform that cannot point you to one once the new rules apply.