The Australian High Court unanimously ruled 7-0 in favor of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, finding that Block Earner’s former fixed-return cryptocurrency product required a financial services license under existing law.
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- The Australian High Court has ruled by 7 votes to 0 that Block Earner’s former fixed-return cryptocurrency product requires a financial services licence.
- The decision overturns the 2025 Court of Appeal ruling and returns the case to the full federal court to consider sanctions.
- Block Earner has since exited yield products and is developing cryptocurrency-backed home loans after obtaining an Australian credit license in 2026.
According to June 17 Court documentThe Supreme Court held that the product offered by Web3 Ventures Pty Ltd, acting as Block Earner, operated as a financial investment facility and also met the legal definition of a financial derivative. The court found that investors’ returns depend on movements in the values of the underlying digital assets and exchange rates.
As a result of this ruling, the case will return to the Full Federal Court, which will now hear ASIC’s appeal relating to penalties linked to previous actions against the company.
ASIC said in a statement on Wednesday that it launched civil penalty proceedings against Block Earner in November 2022 over concerns that the Earner product was being offered without the required licence. According to the regulator, investors who used the product did not receive important protections available under the Australian financial services framework.
The Supreme Court overturns the previous appeal decision
Court records and an ASIC statement show the dispute has passed through several stages in the Australian judicial system over the past two years.
The Federal Court ruled in February 2024 that Block Earner was operating an unregistered managed investment scheme. Although the court later decided in June 2024 not to impose financial penalties, ASIC challenged this finding and lodged an appeal in the same month.
Shortly after, Block Earner filed a cross-appeal on July 9, 2024. Full Federal Court side With the company in April 2025, allowing a cross-appeal and dismissal of the ASIC challenge. The Supreme Court ruling issued on Wednesday overturned this decision.
Welcoming the outcome, ASIC Chair Sarah Court said the ruling supports the regulator’s long-standing view that Australian financial products laws apply to new technologies without the need for legislative changes.
“This reinforces ASIC’s long-standing position that the definition of financial product is broad and technology-neutral and therefore includes new and emerging products without the need to amend legislation,” Court said.
Block Earner continues its cryptocurrency lending plans
Although the legal dispute centered on Earner’s yield product, Block Earner voluntarily closed the offering in November 2022 and has since redirected its business toward lending services.
In May 2026, the company receive Australian credit license and announced plans to develop cryptocurrency-backed home loans. At the time, BlockEarner said the product would allow borrowers to use Bitcoin as collateral to finance homes without selling their property.
The license was notable because it represented the first time a digital asset platform in Australia had been allowed to offer credit products under its own licence.
Previous company statements have also linked the initiative to growing interest in integrating digital assets into traditional mortgage markets. Similar debates have arisen in the United States, where federal housing authorities and lawmakers have done so exploration Frameworks that could allow certain regulated cryptocurrency holdings to be taken into account during mortgage valuations.
