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Australia’s central bank has revealed the industry players and use cases involved in an upcoming limited-scale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. The Reserve Bank of Australia is partnering with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) to explore use cases and economic benefits of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The selected industry players will participate in use case proposals during the live pilot which will take place over the coming months.
Pilot participants and their associated use cases include Australian multinational ANZ (offline payments); Mastercard (interoperable CBDC for trusted Web3 commerce); Canvas Digital (tokenised FX settlement); and Australian Bond Exchange (corporate bond settlement).
A report on the project is expected to be published around the middle of the year, the RBA says.
A range of criteria were considered in selecting the use cases to participate in the pilot, including the potential to provide insights into the possible benefits of a CBDC, the RBA adds.
RBA’s assistant governor (financial system) Brad Jones says the robust industry engagement and the wide range of firms and use cases has been “encouraging”.
“The pilot and broader research study that will be conducted in parallel will serve two ends – it will contribute to hands-on learning by industry, and it will add to policy makers’ understanding of how a CBDC could potentially benefit the Australian financial system and economy,” Jones adds.
