- The Reserve Bank of Australia is launching the next phase of its digital currency project, known as Project Acacia.
- Phase 2 will involve trials of digital Australian dollars, stablecoins, and bank deposit tokens with industry partners.
- The trial is a partnership between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Co-operative Research Centre, with completion expected in early 2026.
- Major banks and fintech participants will conduct real and simulated transactions to test the digital currency’s uses.
- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has provided regulatory exemptions to support responsible experimentation with these new technologies.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is moving forward with Project Acacia, an initiative aimed at trialing a digital version of the Australian dollar. This next stage will see banks and other industry partners test digital coins as part of efforts to modernize the country’s financial systems.
Project Acacia follows a completed research phase and now enters Phase 2, which will include experiments with digital Australian dollars (CBDC), stablecoins (digital currencies tied to the value of another asset), and bank deposit tokens. Officials from the RBA stated that this work is intended to ensure that payment systems remain suitable for the digital age.
“The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money, alongside payments infrastructure, might help to uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia,” said Brad Jones, RBA assistant governor. Testing will involve real money and asset transfers for 19 pilot use cases, plus five additional simulated transactions.
The RBA has enlisted technical support from third-party companies including Hedera, Redbelly, R3 Corda, and Canvas Connect to help run these trials. The trials will feature several of the country’s major banks and fintechs, and focus on how digital money can be used securely and efficiently.
ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke explained that regulatory relief will allow participants to experiment with different settlement models and technologies while continuing to monitor safety. “The relief from regulatory requirements that we have announced will allow these technologies to be sensibly tested – to explore opportunities and identify and tackle risks,” she said. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sees value in evaluating digital asset technologies for improved efficiency in wholesale markets.
The Digital Finance Co-operative Research Centre (DFCRC) is working alongside the RBA on this project, involving both large banks and smaller fintech firms. DFCRC chief scientist Professor Talis Putnins stated that the project features new real-money settlement models and pilot versions of wholesale CBDC issued on third-party platforms, which he called a world-first for Australia.
RBA governor Michele Bullock, speaking during a parliamentary inquiry earlier this year, said she does not personally support alternative payment options like Bitcoin, saying, “It doesn’t have a solid value. You can’t be guaranteed that what it’s worth today it will be worth the same thing tomorrow.” She added that these opinions do not represent the official position of the RBA.
Project Acacia’s second phase is expected to finish in the first quarter of 2026. Results from the trials will be used to assess the viability and impact of digital currency adoption across Australia’s financial sector.
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