Full Federal Court finds Block Earner did not engage in unlicensed conduct

The Full Federal Court dismissed ASIC’s appeal against Block Earner’s fixed-yield digital asset-related Earner product, holding that the product did not require a financial services licence. Block Earner, under its trading name of Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd. and an AUSTRAC-registered digital currency exchange, had previously been found to have engaged in unlicensed financial services conduct from March to November 2022. The ruling marks a reversal from an earlier Federal Court decision that treated the product as a financial product. Consequently, ASIC’s appeal was dismissed, and ASIC was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings. The decision is currently under further review by ASIC.