Blockchain Bites: Pardon the interruption – the ATO enters bitcoin property debate; Ramp and Rails: AUSTRAC steps up VASP supervision; Tokenisation, tested: Australia drops Project Acacia report

The Australian High Court’s docket does not often feature bitcoin as a central character. That was until recently, when the High Court granted special leave to Adam Poulton in a dispute with Jeff Conrad, who paid Poulton to invest $10,000 in bitcoin on his behalf.

On 7 May 2026, the Federal Commissioner of Taxation filed submissions seeking leave to intervene in the matter (Poulton v Conrad (H1/2026)), a Hobart Registry appeal that raises a direct question at the boundary of private law and the digital economy: whether a holding in bitcoin is ‘property’ under Australian common law, and if so, exactly what kind of property it is.