Australia’s central bank and a government-backed research centre have selected 24 industry participants to trial digital settlement systems for tokenised assets, in a project exploring the future of wholesale finance.
The launch of a new phase in Project Acacia, a research initiative focused on how digital money could reshape the settlement of wholesale financial assets, involves 24 use cases from major banks, fintechs and market infrastructure providers.
Backed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Treasury, the project is led by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). It aims to test how tools such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and deposit tokens could enable more efficient, secure, and flexible financial markets.
What the project will do
Project Acacia will trial 24 use cases over the next six months, including 19 real-money pilots and five proof-of-concept simulations. The pilots span asset classes such as fixed income, private markets, trade receivables and carbon credits. Participants will use stablecoins, bank-issued tokens and a pilot central bank digital currency to settle tokenised assets and evaluate how each performs.
The transactions will run on a mix of distributed ledger platforms, including both public-permissioned networks and private systems like Hedera, Redbelly Network, R3 Corda and EVM-compatible chains.
By conducting live pilots with real financial institutions, the project aims to generate practical evidence on the viability of tokenised settlement models and inform future policy and infrastructure decisions.
‘Better understanding’
Brad Jones, assistant governor (financial system) at the RBA said: “Ensuring that Australia’s payments and monetary arrangements are fit‑for‑purpose in the digital age is a strategic priority for the RBA and the Payments System Board. Project Acacia represents an opportunity for further collaborative exploration on tokenised asset markets and the future of money by the public and private sectors in Australia.
“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.
“We thank all interested parties for their efforts in Project Acacia to date and look forward to reporting back on the findings that will emerge over the reminder of the project.”
‘Useful applications’
Kate O’Rourke, ASIC Commissioner said: “Innovation is a sign of a vibrant economy and society. ASIC supports the responsible development of new technologies, including tokenisation and distributed ledgers.
“ASIC sees useful applications for the technologies underlying digital assets in wholesale markets. The relief from regulatory requirements that we have announced today will allow these technologies to be sensibly tested—to explore opportunities and identify and tackle risks.
“Importantly, Project Acacia will allow industry and regulators to work together to learn more about how these use cases may reshape the financial services industry, potentially boosting efficiency and foster economic growth.”
‘World-first’
Professor Talis Putnins, chief scientist at DFCRC, said: “It is great to have collaboration from so many parts of the industry, from small fintechs to large banks, alongside the key financial regulators in this forward‑looking, innovative project. The real money settlement models being tested, including issuing pilot wholesale CBDC on third party platforms, reflects another world‑first for Australia in this rapidly evolving field.
“The project is of strategic importance to the DFCRC because, as a co‑operative research centre, our focus is on bringing together key groups to unlock the large economic potential of digital finance innovation in Australia. Recent research suggests potential economic gains in markets and cross border payments could be in the order of AU$19billion per year. Project Acacia is a significant step towards realising these gains, by providing evidence on the forms of money and settlement models that best enable tokenised real‑world asset markets.”
Industry participation
Among the participants is Australian Payments Plus (AP+), the national digital payments platform operator, which will lead three interconnected use cases. These will integrate with pilots from other institutions, reflecting the project’s collaborative nature.
“CBDCs and other forms of digital money, such as stablecoins, have the potential to transform how value moves through the economy,” said Lynn Kraus, CEO of AP+. “Conversations around CBDCs are happening globally, and we’re thrilled to be a part of the discussion in Australia.”
