OKX, a leading digital asset exchange, has officially launched its operations in Australia, marking its expansion into the country a year after establishing an office in Sydney in May 2023. The launch will enable spot trading for all users and derivatives trading for verified wholesale clients in Australia. This move comes after OKX’s subsidiary received in-principle approval for a payments license to operate in Singapore and launched operations in Turkey earlier this year.
The Australian launch is part of OKX’s expansion strategy and aims to provide a trusted, compliant, and transparent gateway to crypto trading and decentralized finance (DeFi). The exchange plans to improve its offering to better serve the local crypto community in the long-term.
With the launch, OKX claims to be the largest global crypto exchange offering direct AUD deposits and withdrawals to Australians. Spot trading users will have access to 170 crypto spot pairs and a total of 85 tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Tether. The Australian arm of OKX plans to add more tokens in the coming months.
Jamie Kennedy, the general manager at OKX Australia, emphasized the need for a secure, easy-to-use, and responsive platform for Australian crypto users, including seamless access to banking rails and AUD pairs for popular cryptocurrencies.
The decision to expand into Australia is driven by the country’s growing crypto-hungry population. According to a survey from Koinly, 31.6% of Australians held or had held crypto as of July 2023. Crypto ownership in Australia has consistently increased since 2019, with one in four adults owning some type of cryptocurrency.
However, Australia has recently intensified its scrutiny of crypto exchanges, demanding data from 1.2 million accounts to crack down on users failing to pay taxes on their crypto holdings. On a positive note, the country’s market operator, ASX, is considering approving the first-ever Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the end of 2024, which would provide more Bitcoin investment options for Australian users.
