Hi All from Australia,
There has been a lot of work going on downunder to get our government with the program, to educate them and to push for a sensible and lightweight response to the questions in many people's minds about regulating digital currencies.
While I know many people don't want regulation of any kind, getting governments to agree to specifics is a benefit for many businesses who may otherwise believe there is too much risk of later fines, taxes or other bad shit. In fact in Australia we've already seen some offshore migration of bitcoin startups (e.g. CoinJar) and we've also seen a few shut down.
I took it upon myself to make a submission to the Australian Senate Committee on Digital Currencies and attempt to counteract the kind of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) sprayed by the likes of Mastercard and other sluggish incumbents in the path of blockchain disruption.
I published it on my blog here:
http://blockzombie.com/blog/regulation/my-bitcoin-submission-to-the-australian-senate-committee/
I'd love to hear from my beloved LTB community, any feedback about the content. It's written for a wide audience and not for bitcoin experts, so bear that in mind.
We were lucky enough to get some stream time from Andreas Antonopoulos in a recent senate hearing, so hopefully we can expect some forward progress on the legislative and regulatory fronts which doesn't stifle innovation and which follows Andreas' advice to keep a light touch.
Australia is well-positioned in Asian markets and can build from a healthy economy, an educated population of high technology literacy and a modern financial services sector. We also have good beaches and can drink beer OK.
In fact, a little birdy told me there are several US blockchain evangelists and regulatory pundits who are watching Australia's progress on this matter. While the US is a world leader in many things, cohesive federal governance aint one of them.