Australia’s central bank said Thursday it will launch trials using real money and assets to explore the use of a wholesale central bank digital currency, in partnership with private industry.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said its initiative, known as Project Acacia, will test 19 pilot cases and five proof-of-concept use cases over the next six months. The trials will involve asset classes such as fixed income, private markets, trade receivables, and carbon credits.
Settlement methods will include central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and new approaches to using commercial banks’ current deposits at the RBA.
The pilot will be conducted on platforms including Hedera, Redbelly, R3 Corda, Canvas Connect, and other compatible systems. A report is expected in the first half of 2026.
RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the project will help assess how digital money and payment systems might improve the function of wholesale financial markets in Australia.
The RBA has chosen to focus on wholesale CBDC use, having found no economic case for a retail version.
The central bank said wholesale digital currencies could help reduce counterparty and operational risks, increase transparency, lower costs, and improve auditability and access to collateral.
