Bitcoin higher as Blockchain Australia seeks regulatory guidance

Bitcoin was trading 12% higher early Monday morning.

The price was around $38,801 per coin, while rival Ethereum was up 8.78% at $2,369 and Dogecoin was higher at 22 cents per coin, according to Coindesk.

A top blockchain industry body in Australia says the country’s current regulatory framework for crypto is lacking, particularly when it comes to derivatives trading.

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Blockchain Australia (BA) wrote the country’s Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, making three primary recommendations, according to a paper released on Friday.

The recommendations in the letter comes in response to the committee’s request for submissions from industry participants on how to improve Australia’s standing as a "technology and financial" hub, Coindesk reported. It calls for a "coordinated and graduated approach" to the regulation of digital assets.

Among the recommendations offered, the letter seeks implementation of immediate safe harbor provisions for crypto providers as well as greater regulatory guidance and engagement in the short-term while in the long-term overseeing the creation of a "fit-for-purpose legislative framework," the report said.

In other cryptocurrency news, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is lowering the maximum leverage users may use to trade futures contracts. The action takes place one day after derivatives exchange FTX announced the same change, Coindesk reported.

The new limit is 20 times leverage, down from 100 times leverage, the exchange's founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet Monday.

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Binance imposed the limit on new users effective July 19, and will gradually expand the move to all users, Zhao said.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in a Sunday tweet a similar change is taking place on his platform.