The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre have released a report on Project Acacia, a joint initiative examining how digital money and settlement innovations could support wholesale tokenised asset markets in Australia. The report concludes that asset tokenisation, alongside new forms of digital money and settlement infrastructure, could improve the efficiency, functionality and resilience of wholesale financial markets, while also identifying challenges to scaling tokenised markets that require further work by regulators and industry. Led with industry participants and supported by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Treasury, the project tested 20 use cases across a range of asset classes covering issuance, servicing, trading and settlement. The trials explored settlement using exchange settlement account balances, a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency, tokenised commercial bank deposits and stablecoins. The report also sets out a multi-stream program focused on stronger industry-regulator cooperation, possible development of a regulatory sandbox for digital financial market infrastructure, consideration of tokenised government bond issuance, continued work on interoperable commercial bank deposit tokens, and Reserve Bank of Australia consultation on adapting settlement infrastructure and exchange settlement account access arrangements alongside further exploration of wholesale central bank digital currency.
Reserve Bank of Australia2026-05-18
Reserve Bank of Australia and DFCRC release Project Acacia findings and outline program for wholesale tokenised markets
The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre published a Project Acacia report on how digital money and settlement innovations could support wholesale tokenised asset markets, finding potential efficiency and resilience gains but also scaling challenges requiring further regulatory and industry work. The project, conducted with industry and supported by ASIC, APRA and the Australian Treasury, tested 20 use cases across multiple asset classes using various forms of digital settlement, including a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency, tokenised commercial bank deposits and stablecoins. The report outlines a multi‑stream work program, including enhanced industry‑regulator cooperation and a potential regulatory sandbox for digital market infrastructure.