Full Federal Court of Australia rules in favour of Wallet Ventures again
The Full Federal Court of Australia today dismissed appeal proceedings brought by ASIC against Wallet Ventures.
Today's Judgment, handed down by Justices Stewart, Cheeseman, and Meagher, confirmed the March 2024 Judgment from Justice Markovic that Finder Earn was compliant with applicable consumer financial laws.
The original case was the first time in Australia that the legal definition of debenture had been tested in an Australian court in relation to cryptocurrency.
The Full Court confirmed the initial finding that Finder Earn was not a financial product.
Finder's CEO and Founder, Frank Restuccia, welcomed the decision.
"At Finder, we work hard to empower customers to make better financial decisions to change their lives for the better.
"We are proud to have developed Finder Earn as a way for Australians to earn yield on their cryptocurrency investments.
"We are delighted with this outcome, which again confirms that Finder was compliant with our regulatory obligations in offering Finder Earn to our customers. I'm also extremely proud of the innovative crew that made this product a reality.
"We understand and respect the importance of good regulation to protect consumers and we engaged openly and proactively with ASIC from the outset," Restuccia said.
Finder Executive Chair and Founder, Fred Schebesta, said he hopes that Australian innovators continue to create bold, compliant products to help their fellow citizens.
"This case – and its appeal – are great examples of innovation outpacing regulation.
"Hopefully this case will be a jumping off point for even more open communication and collaboration between innovators and regulators – especially as emerging sectors expand exponentially in the coming years," Schebesta said.
Finder chose to sunset Finder Earn in November 2022 and all customer capital was returned, as well as over 500,000 in TAUD – valued at $500,000 in combined yield earned.
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