Australia Expands Digital Currency Trials with Project Acacia as CBDC Race Heats Up

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is advancing its digital currency ambitions with Project Acacia, a collaborative initiative involving the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), ASIC, APRA, and the Australian Treasury. The project, now entering its next phase, will test stablecoins, digital bank deposits, and a trial version of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) across 24 use cases. These trials aim to evaluate how digital money can enhance the efficiency, safety, and speed of Australia's wholesale tokenized asset markets.

Brad Jones, Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the RBA, emphasized the project's potential to reshape financial markets. "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," he said. The trials will involve real-money transactions and proof-of-concept simulations, with participation from fintech startups and major banks.

Notably, the project will run on multiple blockchain platforms, underscoring the RBA's commitment to exploring diverse technological solutions. As global competition for CBDC leadership intensifies, Australia's proactive stance positions it as a key player in the future of digital finance.