TLDR
Australias securities regulator has won a court order fining the issuer of the Qoin Wallet product about 9.3 million dollars for unlicensed and misleading crypto activities.
- Australias Federal Court ordered BPS Financial, behind the Qoin Wallet, to pay 14 million Australian dollars for unlicensed conduct and deceptive promotion of its crypto-linked payment product.
- The court found Qoin was marketed like a regulated payment facility with easy liquidity and broad merchant acceptance, even though BPS had no license and those claims were not true.
- ASIC is using this case to signal tougher enforcement on unlicensed crypto products, while new rules are coming that would force many digital asset platforms into Australias formal licensing regime.
Deep Dive
1. What ASIC Won In Court
Australias Federal Court ruled that BPS Financial Pty Ltd must pay 14 million Australian dollars (about 9.3 million dollars) in penalties over its Qoin Wallet product, following a case brought by ASIC. The penalty covers both running an unlicensed financial services business and making misleading statements about Qoin and the wallet offering between January 2020 and mid 2023.
According to the court summary, BPS was fined 1.3 million dollars for unlicensed conduct and 8 million dollars for misleading representations, and it faces a 10 year ban on operating a financial services business without a license, along with court ordered notices on its app and website and most of ASICs legal costs, as detailed in the Federal Court ruling on Qoin Wallet.
2. Why Qoin Counted As Financial Services
The court found that BPS, via the Qoin Wallet, was effectively issuing a non cash payment facility and providing financial services and advice, which in Australia requires an Australian Financial Services Licence. Reporting on the case notes that Qoin was marketed as a way to pay merchants using a proprietary token, going well beyond a neutral software wallet, in ways that brought it inside financial regulation, as explained in this analysis of the BPS ruling.
Judges also upheld earlier findings that BPS made false claims that Qoin and the wallet were officially approved or registered, that Qoin could be easily exchanged for fiat or other crypto assets, and that it was widely accepted by merchants, creating a misleading picture of safety and liquidity.
3. What This Signals For Crypto In Australia
ASIC has explicitly framed digital assets as a key "regulatory perimeter" risk and highlighted the Qoin penalties as an example of how it will treat unlicensed and misleading crypto products. In its recent 2026 outlook, ASIC tied the Qoin case to broader plans to tighten oversight while the government moves ahead with legislation that would require many digital asset platforms and custodians to hold a financial services license, as outlined in its regulatory perimeter report.
Crypto projects in Australia that function like payment facilities or investment products, and are marketed as such, should expect to be treated as regulated financial services and face heavy penalties if they operate without proper licensing and accurate disclosures.
Conclusion
ASICs successful action against the Qoin Wallet issuer shows that Australian courts are prepared to treat crypto payment schemes as regulated financial products when they look and behave like traditional finance. The combination of a multi million dollar penalty, a decade long ban, and public corrective notices sends a strong signal that unlicensed, misleadingly marketed crypto offerings will be a priority enforcement target as Australia builds a more formal licensing regime for digital assets.
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