Australian Securities Regulator Wants to Appeal High Court’s Decision on Block Earner

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is seeking leave to appeal a High Court decision that fintech company Block Earner’s Access product is not a financial product.

The High Court in March 2024 dismissed ASIC’s allegations that Block Earner had engaged in unlicensed financial services by offering its decentralized finance (DeFi) product Access.

ASIC is seeking clarification on how a financial product is defined which it feels should apply to all products whether they involve cryptocurrency or not.

“The High Court will consider ASIC’s application on a date to be determined,” ASIC said in an announcement on Wednesday.

The Court gave a split decision over ASIC’s case against Block Earner last year, upholding the claim that it had engaged in unlicensed financial services with its Earner product while dismissing the allegations against Access.

Block Earner, which has backing from crypto exchange Coinbase, was however freed from its $350,000 Earner-related fine by the Court in June, which ASIC also appealed. This was eventually resolved in April this year with ASIC’s appeal dismissed.