Australia’s central bank is set to launch a “live pilot” of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) “in the coming months,” according to a joint statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance CRC (DFCRC), an Australian financial research institute.
The RBA said on March 2 local time that it is collaborating with the DFCRC on a research project to “explore the potential use cases and economic benefits of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia.”
The RBA announced that the initial phase of the research project involved the selection of a number of financial industry participants to demonstrate the potential use cases of CBDC, which would provide the benefits of CBDC.
This will involve a “live pilot,” which the RBA says will take place over the next few months.
The use cases being tested include offline payments, tax automation and CBDC for “trusted Web3 commerce,” while trial participants range from banks, such as the Commonwealth Bank and Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) banks to payment providers such as Mastercard.
Brad Jones, Assistant Governor (Financial Systems) at the RBA said, “The pilot and the wider research study that will be carried out in parallel will have two goals – it will contribute to direct learning by the industry, and it will add to policy makers’ understanding of how CBDC has the potential to benefit the Australian financial system and economy.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.