High Court Ruling on Block Earner
In a pivotal decision, Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), affirming that Block Earner’s previously offered fixed-yield cryptocurrency product necessitated a financial services license as per the laws in effect. The June 17 ruling identified that the offering, managed by Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd under the name Block Earner, qualified as a financial investment platform and satisfied the criteria to be classified as a derivative, where returns for investors were influenced by fluctuations in underlying digital asset values and exchange rates.
Implications of the Ruling
Consequently, this ruling sends the case back to the Full Federal Court, which will review ASIC’s appeal concerning penalties imposed during earlier legal actions against Block Earner. ASIC had initiated civil penalty proceedings against the firm in November 2022, citing that the profit-generating Earner product was issued without the obligatory license. The regulator emphasized that users of this product lacked crucial protections guaranteed under Australia’s financial services laws.
Legal Developments
The ongoing legal dispute has seen several developments across Australia’s judicial landscape over the past two years. In February 2024, the Federal Court found that Block Earner had indeed been running an unregistered managed investment scheme. Later, in June 2024, although financial penalties were not enforced, ASIC contested this decision, leading to an ensuing appeal. Block Earner responded with a cross-appeal on July 9, 2024. However, in April 2025, the Full Federal Court ruled in favor of Block Earner, approving the cross-appeal and rejecting ASIC’s arguments. The recent High Court ruling has effectively overturned this previous judgment.
ASIC’s Response
ASIC Chair Sarah Court expressed satisfaction with the outcome, asserting that the judgment underscores the regulator’s long-held stance that Australia’s financial regulations are applicable to innovative technologies without necessitating legislative amendments.
“This reinforces ASIC’s long-standing position that the definition of financial product is broad and technology-neutral, thus encapsulating new and emerging offerings without the need for legislative change,”
Court stated.
Block Earner’s Business Shift
While this legal contention was primarily focused on the Earner yield service, Block Earner voluntarily ceased the product’s offering in November 2022, shifting its business model towards lending services afterward. By May 2026, the company secured an Australian Credit Licence, marking a significant development as it prepared to launch crypto-backed home loan products. This initiative would enable borrowers to use Bitcoin as collateral for obtaining home loans without needing to liquidate their crypto holdings. This license was remarkable as it was the first instance where a digital asset platform in Australia received authorization to issue credit products independently.
Earlier announcements from the company revealed that this strategy is part of a broader interest in merging digital assets into traditional mortgage financing, a conversation also being explored in the United States as regulators consider integrating certain regulated crypto assets in mortgage evaluations.
