This comes some two weeks after Swyftx culled 90 staff members, with the crypto exchange platform citing it is not immune to the ripple effects the FTX crash has caused amongst cryptocurrency markets. 

In a statement released by Superhero, the investing platform noted over the past six months, there has been a lot of disruption and volatility in the cryptocurrency sector.

“The sector has also been subjected to increased regulatory scrutiny both in Australia and abroad as crypto markets have been turbulent in recent months and overall market sentiment towards cryptocurrencies has turned bearish,” the statement read. 

“As a direct result of the current headwinds in the market environment, the leadership teams at Superhero and Swyftx have made the decision that the best thing for our customers and respective businesses is to unwind the merger and to move forward as separate, unrelated companies.

“Superhero, as a regulated entity which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, has previously and will continue to ensure we meet our regulatory obligations.”

Superhero outlined that it will not entertain the notion of providing cryptocurrencies as an investment opportunity for its customer base due to a lack of appetite. 

Instead the platform will turn its attention to ensuring Australians have access to investing opportunities across the Australian and US markets, as well as transparency and control over their superannuation.

Swyftx CEO and co-founder Alex Harper noted it is a disappointing outcome but the decision lies in the best interests of both Superhero and Swyftx, as well as their customers.

“The policy environment has changed significantly since we announced the merger and neither party has been able to realise the vision of the merger in any meaningful way," Mr Harper said.

"We currently face a scenario where there might be no realised benefits to customers from the merger until 2024 at the earliest.

"The decision puts Swyftx in a strong position and frees us up to focus on consolidation and growth opportunities in digital assets.”

Ramping up the scrutiny of the cryptocurrency market comes as the Federal Government has flagged its intent to implement regulations including ‘token mapping’.

Speaking in August, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the crypto sector is largely unregulated, and work needs to be done in order to strike an adequate balance.

"With the increasingly widespread proliferation of crypto assets - to the extent that crypto advertisements can be seen plastered all over big sporting events - we need to make sure customers engaging with crypto are adequately informed and protected,” Mr Chalmers said. 

In October’s Federal Budget, the government confirmed it would legislate to treat crypto as an investment asset, subject to capital gains tax (CGT). 

For investors, this means they are required to track each transaction from when they trade, make a purchase, gift or sell crypto, to determine if they made a capital gain or loss.

How does this impact customers?

In the company statement, Superhero has outlined there will be no change for Superhero customers.

Further, customers remain able to continue to access Superhero accounts with no impact to the assets held in their accounts and can continue to access live chat for support from Superhero’s Sydney-based team.

Image by Torsten Dederichs via Unsplash