Senator Bragg stated that Australia was preparing policies before the national election to provide more explicit standards for crypto-assets and artists. The Senator made this known to the media during an NFT exhibition.
On Tuesday, Australian Lawmaker Andrew Bragg addressed a crowd assembled at Sydney’s 3D NFT show “Satellite” that the government needs digital artists to voice their opinion on the best possible way for legislation of digital assets.
Bragg Likens NFTs To Royalties Received By Singers
Bragg stated that the tech embedded in NFTs benefits artists by allowing those residing in the nation’s most distant locations to interact with a greater audience. He also noted that efforts are being made to determine their worth and guarantee that Australia will remain competitive recruiting domestic and international talent.
NFTs are blockchain-based digital assets that give evidence of validity and possession over actual or virtual items. They are primarily distributed, purchased, and sold through online markets like Rarible and OpenSea.
Bragg told Blockworks in an interview that the show provided a “humanizing manner” for the debate of NFTs while also showing the added value blockchain gives to artists.
“I think NFTs can accomplish what royalties did for vocalists,” Bragg remarked, referring to numerous artworks and QR codes around the gallery.Blockchain will enable artists to get compensated throughout their careers,” he added.
“We are in the research phase,” said Martha Reyes, Director of Research at Bequant, an exchange firm for digital assets. “NFTs don’t have just one usage; they will have a wide range of applications that we are just discovering,” she added.
The exhibition continues until the 3rd of April and includes 50 curated digital artworks by 27 digital artists, including Boss Logic, Jonathan Zawada, David McLeod, Trevor Jones, Serwah Attafuah Yambo, and Beeple.
While government funding to the arts industry is supplied every year, Senator Bragg stated that the technique was unsustainable. NFT policy was needed to set “safety barriers” for the market to act as the driver and for designers not to depend on “government assistance.”
A Regulatory Environment
Bragg was elected to the senate in 2019 and presently oversees the “Environment and Communications Legislation Committee” and the “Environment and Communications References Committee.”
From the 19th of September, 2019, until the 20th of October, 2021, the Senator also led the “Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre Committee.” That group was the first of its type, looking at how firms and individuals in the local crypto economy communicate with the conventional financial sector, among other things.
The panel heard multiple incidents of financial institutions rejecting or canceling banking services to cryptocurrency firms, frequently without reason, and found legislation around the new asset type to be disjointed and insufficient by contemporary standards. The lawmakers and the incumbent Liberal Party want to build on previous committee studies and stakeholder policy and engagement reformation, particularly about NFTs.
He stated that tax reform and clear instructions were required to offset local enterprises wanting to base themselves in more favorable territories overseas, such as the UK and Singapore.
“Right now, I believe there are occasions where non-fungible Tokens are being taxed mistakenly,” Bragg stated. “There is no genuine value transfer.” We must ensure we’re not doing that – we need to be tax competitive,” he continued. “If that’s the case, why would you conduct business here?”
With a Federal election that has yet to be declared looming, the stakes for accessing niche audiences and businesses could not be greater. Although the state authority claims to be pushing hard to perfect its cryptocurrency policy, opponents warn it might be late, mainly targeting millennials who are already highly involved in crypto assets and disinterested in state politics.
