The minister of commerce and consumer affairs, Andrew Bayly, has come out strongly in favour of crypto currencies, saying New Zealand should be a trading platform for them.
Bayly made the remarks to the New Zealand Herald's business editor Liam Dann, at the recently held Financial Services Council's Outlook 2025 conference held earlier this week.
"Cryptocurrency is obviously here to stay, and so that's one thing," Bayly said in a response to a question from the audience about taking crypto currencies mainstream, and if that should be accelerated and perhaps deregulated in New Zealand.
"President Trump has obviously really pushed it, which is fascinating," Bayly said.
Trump launched a so-called memecoin the day before his inauguration as United States president. Called $TRUMP, the crypto currency token could be used to buy Trump-themed trainers, fragrances and watches.
Investors who piled in on the coin pushed its perceived value to over US$75 per token, for a "market capitalisation" of US$14.5 billion. It has since dropped precipitously in value to US$16 per token.
Trump has also endorsed the World Liberty Financial crypto currency project, with Bloomberg reporting it would be used to set up a "strategic reserve", the objective of which isn't specified. The Trump family are allegedly acting as advisers to the WLFI project and have been allocated 22.5 billion of its tokens.
Bayly now believes that New Zealand should espouse virtual currencies.
"I think and I was on [the] finance and expenditure [committee] and we actually commissioned the review of cryptocurrency and blockchain all that sort of technology - I think we should embrace it," Bayly said.
"There's real opportunities in it you know. Obviously we have some people that trade cryptocurrency but I think the real opportunity actually is is New Zealand being a trading platform," the minister added.
He held out the example of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Middle East as a crypto currency trading platform. The country hosts several cryptocurrency exchanges, both local and US-based ones, and Bayly believes this represents a real commercial opportunity.
Bayly said that while you don't have to go and promote certain crypto currencies, somewhere they have to be legitimately traded, and he is quite embracing of some of that.
The minister also said blockchain, the immutable distributed digital transaction ledger introduced with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency is "fantastic technology if you want to deal with anti-money laundering (AML)".
"Some of you would have made a lot of money trading cryptocurrency and that's their height of risk but you know, I think we've got to look at the commercial opportunities," Bayly said.
"That's why government should think commercially rather than thinking about all the rules we've got to put in place," he added.
Anti-scam action promised in collaboration with Australia and Singapore
Bayly took a swipe at the social media platforms on which scams, including "celeb-bait" ones that trick people into buying crypto currencies, saying he wants them to act locally in New Zealand.
"What are you doing to stop scams in New Zealand?" Bayly asked rhetorically, saying the social media platforms efforts are normally at a global level.
The minister revealed that while losses to scams are officially said to be around $200 million last year, the number is much higher, maybe as much as a billion dollars.
He said he has asked social media platforms, the telcos and the banks to have a code prepared, or Bayly will impose one on them.
Bayly also warned the FSC audience not to use their regular credit and debit cards on Temu and Facebook Marketplace "because that's where you'll get scammed, most likely" and to be careful on them to avoid having their accounts emptied.
Plenty of work to do across Bayly's portfolio
Bayly has set an ambitious programme of work for himself and his ministry, embarking on regulatory reform in a range of sectors including banking, the supermarket duopoly, the Companies Act and capital markets, and the Accident Compensation Corporation
Bayly was given ministerial responsibility for ACC earlier this year, after a cabinet reshuffle in January.
The minister is aiming to inject more competition into the economy. This will in part be done by updating the mergers and competition provisions of the Commerce Act, which Bayly said hasn't been reviewed in 20 years.
An independent review has been commissioned to take stock of the Commerce Commission's structure and effectiveness, as Bayly focuses on competition.
A review of the Fair Trading Act (FTA), described by the minister as a "major piece of work," will be launched this year, Bayly said.
The FTA is "a hugely consequential piece of legislation that covers everything from product safety and product descriptions through the contract terms and advertising statements," Bayly added.
He noted that "it's very important that we actually make sure we're getting better outcomes" from the FTA.
15 Comments
Meaningless really. Despite a few dinky options for onboarding - like Easy Crypto, which is not a trading platform. It's a broker - punters either have to go to the likes of Binance or DEXs if they want to trade crypto. Also, it's too much work for the govt to put in a robust regulatory framework like Japan has done for their ecosystem. The addressable market is much larger.
If Bayly wanted to push for favorable tax treatment for crypto owners and trades, that would be looked on with favor by some. But he won't do that as his mates won't like it - the banks, tradfi industry, Ponzi, etc.
Best for Bayly not to do anything. Govts cannot shape crypto in a manner in which they like.
100% agree. The few dinky options are actually because of the failure of the comcom to pull banks up on their anticompetitive behaviour by refusing services to the industry.
No crypto native will move to NZ, first hand all the ones I know that work in the industry apart from one have departed.
Plus the ponzi remains the capital gain haven. IRD have assumed that capital gains in crypto are to be taxed, end of conversation. Corrupt
Great - let’s get rich trading pudgy penguins - Yeah right
Bayly makes no point that he thinks trading Pudgy Penguins will make you rich. Where and how do you infer that?
Odds are that most people will lose money on Pudgy Penguins. But that doesn't mean you should prevent people from speculating on it.
Reality is that crypto markets are the closet we have to 'free markets'. Yes, there are instances of market manipulation. But you have that everyday in the stock, forex, and commodity markets. Even the Ponzi. Therefore, there is no argument to treat crypto any differently in terms of enabling people to access markets. But Aotearoa doesn't need a crypto industry per se. Doesn't make any sense.
Crypto exchanges should be subject to the same AML/CFT, KYC, consumer protection etc. laws as banks
Already done in Japan under the Travel Rule
Cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan are required to:
- Register with the Financial Services Agency (FSA)
- Implement strict Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks
- Adhere to traditional Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) responsibilities
Really too little too late. NZ Crypto business scene has been slaughtered by banks collectively refusing services to startups and any crypto based service. NBR has reported on this a few times over the last 2 years.
Plus, if you are crypto rich and looking to move specifically to a crypto friendly country, NZ is very far down on that list. The taxation is horrific and the IRD are taxing capital gains, who would've thought.
Plus, if you are crypto rich and looking to move specifically to a crypto friendly country, NZ is very far down on that list. The taxation is horrific and the IRD are taxing capital gains, who would've thought.
Correct. If you're crypto rich, you need to set up your affairs accordingly so that you're not liable for tax in Aotearoa. Tax alone is enough to scare most normies away.
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