Last week, Australia’s Select Committee on Financial Technology (fintech) and Regulatory Technology (regtech) conducted a public hearing on the work and research that is being conducted. One area of interest discussed was two blockchain programs being funded by the government.
The first project is for regtech startup competitions, and the other involves two pilot projects that aim to reduce the cost of regulatory compliance. Funding for the programs is coming from the A$800 million ($618 million) Digital Business Plan set by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison six months ago.
A$11.4 million ($9 million) is allocated to the first project. It aims to enable startups to pitch ideas and, if successful, develop trials and potentially commercialize a blockchain-based regulatory solution. The committee is identifying startups in Australia that might be interested in the program and will create four different challenge areas for them. The SMEs will propose a plan on how to address the challenge. Some will be awarded a grant of A$100,000 ($77,300) to develop a feasibility study for their solution. Of those, the committee will select a few to develop trials to implement the solutions. The program targets one of the core aspects of the National Roadmap: to support startups.
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