A number of Australia’s biggest crypto exchanges claim that they are not threatened by the fact that some of crypto’s biggest players have been making moves in the country for some time. While the app downloads across iOS and Google platforms show a rise in popularity for these bigger players, the four local crypto exchanges remain unfazed.
Over the last few years, crypto giants Kraken, Gemini and Binance have all started making moves in the country with hopes to carve out some of the domestic market shares. Local Australian crypto exchanges, Swyftx, CoinSpot, CoinJar and BTC markets are remaining calm amongst the moves that are being made. Gary Howells, chief product officer at CoinSpot, explained that “The competitive landscape has evolved and we’ve seen multiple exchanges come and go,” adding, “We are continually staying agile by adding new projects to the platform.”
Gemini was one of the first crypto exchanges to begin operations in Australia, the company set up shop in mid-2019 and is now one of today’s major global exchanges. Just one year later, Kraken launched a new fiat-to-crypto exchange and Binance followed suit one month later. Binance Australia is locally registered and run by InvestbyBIT Ltd. Binance has made sure to make a point of this with multiple jurisdictions on more than one occasion, including Singapore and Malta.
Chief officer at CoinJar, Dominic Gluchowski, said “We generally find that Australian customers prefer to use Australian exchanges with local support,” adding, “While we can’t compete with the advertising spends and campaigns of the international heavy-hitters, we still tend to outperform on a dollar-to-dollar basis due to better understanding of local market conditions.”
For years, the finance business and the crypto market has found it difficult to crack the Australian market however, many companies still try to make their mark on the Island. However, Australian residents seem to prefer using platforms that are based in their local currency, with support offered in their native language. CoinSpot currently ranks 5th in popularity among iOS devices within the finance category.
Bigger players have said that their aim is not to obtain a share in the Australian crypto market but that it is instead to provide education and fuel further crypto adoption in the country.
Managing director of Kraken Australia, Jonathan Miller, said that “The Australian market is key to achieving global adoption and our local strategy focuses on supporting this through education.” CEO of Binance Australia, Leigh Travers, agreed with this saying that the crypto industry has plenty of room to grow.
According to Travers, “With a market that has around one million crypto users, and an equities market that has ten million traders, there is a huge potential.”
On top of this, regulatory guidance for crypto in Australia remains unclear. “We don’t yet know the contents of any proposed Australian regulations, ” said Caroline Bowler, CEO at BTC Markets. “We do know, however, that they are coming. It’s reasonable to expect they will be similar to the traditional financial industry. From experience, this means increased reporting, system testing, external auditing, controls on advertising – to name a few.”
The Australian crypto exchanges are part of a growing group that claims that they are not threatened by bigger players, despite the growing competition.
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