Australia to Explore Potential for Retail and Wholesale CBDCs
by Fintech News Singapore September 27, 2022The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is collaborating with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) to explore use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The (DFCRC) is a 10-year, A$180 million research programme funded by industry partners, universities and the Australian government, through the Cooperative Research Centres Programme.
The project intends to test a general-purpose pilot CBDC issued as a liability of the RBA for use in real world, pilot implementations of services offered by Australian industry participants.
The central bank will be exploring any compelling use case for both wholesale and retail CBDCs through this project.
RBA and the DFCRC have released a white paper ‘Australian CBDC Pilot for Digital Finance Innovation’, that explains the objectives and approach of the project in more detail.
The project will also be an opportunity to further understanding of some of the technological, legal and regulatory considerations associated with a CBDC
The CBDC project had commenced in July 2022 and is expected to be completed around the middle of 2023.
The RBA and DFCRC are engaged with regulators, such as ASIC and AUSTRAC, to work through regulatory implications as they arise.
RBA invites interested industry participants to make submissions on CBDC use cases. A limited number of these use cases will also be selected for operation within the CBDC pilot project infrastructure.
