Lost in translation: Why the digital assets sector needs a better storyline
Honner was on the ground at the recent Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA) Conference as the only PR agency specialising in digital assets communications. Our biggest takeaway was simple: a clear narrative is required to explain the next version of Australia’s financial system to all stakeholders.
The conference highlighted the degree to which crypto prices, retail trading and hype cycles are no longer dominant themes for discussion. The sharper discussion was about infrastructure – how tokenised assets, digital money, stablecoins, AI agents, custody, compliance and will play out over time.
This reflects the reality that digital assets no longer sit neatly outside mainstream finance. They are part of conversations about payments, superannuation, market infrastructure and policy. This, in turn, makes the communications challenge for industry more complex.
It is no longer enough to explain the workings of technology to specialists with a specific interest in it. Bigger questions must be answered: why it matters, who it benefits, how it is governed and potential risks should by understand by everyone – from the general public to policy makers and industry participants themselves.
DECA’s conference revealed key communication pain points:
Tokenisation: The real story is that tokenisation is moving from experimentation to infrastructure testing – and Australia has a window to help shape the standards before they are set elsewhere. It should not be sold as an overnight transformation.
Artificial intelligence: Traditional payments infrastructure was designed for people, merchants and institutions. An agent-led economy may need programmable money, delegated permissions, transaction limits, identity systems and machine-speed settlement. It raises bigger questions about trust, control, sovereignty and who owns the infrastructure future digital commerce will rely on – all of which must be explained to a broad business audience.
Regulation: The sector is no longer arguing against regulation in principle. Today’s question is whether any rules are clear, proportionate and workable enough to protect consumers while giving responsible operators confidence to build busineses.
In this environment, “we welcome regulation” is no longer a sufficient response to pointed questions. Responsible operators need to explain how they are working towards an appropriately regulated environment and why that matters.
Investor education: The uptake of crypto by self-managed superannuation funds, albeit from a small base, brings opportunity but also responsibility for business. Education remains critical if digital assets are to move from crypto-native communities into mainstream wealth settings. It cannot be treated as a soft add-on.
Cutting through
For professional communicators, the key takeaway from the DECA Conference was that the old job was explaining crypto. Our new job is explaining digital finance infrastructure to everyone who will come to use it over time.
That means fewer acronyms, sharper definitions, stronger evidence and less hype. It means giving media, policymakers, investors, institutions and consumers a version of the story that makes sense to each of them.