- The Reserve Bank of Australia estimates tokenisation could eventually add up to $24 billion to the Australian economy.
- The RBA is consulting on how RITS should support tokenised assets and private forms of digital money.
- Project Acacia tested more than 20 use cases, including tokenised bonds, deposits, stablecoins and trade receivables.
- The RBA and Treasury have again rejected the case for a retail CBDC, leaving the focus on wholesale markets.
Australia’s central bank estimates that tokenisation could eventually add up to $24 billion to the economy. It’s now asking the financial industry how the country’s payments infrastructure should adapt, while ruling out a retail digital dollar for the foreseeable future.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has opened a consultation on the future of RITS, its real-time settlement system, as tokenised bonds, bank deposits and stablecoins start to move from experiments towards real-world use.
The consultation follows Project Acacia, the RBA’s joint research project with industry. The project tested around 20 use cases across areas including fixed income, private markets and trade receivables, looking at where tokenisation could make financial markets more efficient.
Read more: SEC Chair Atkins Backs CLARITY Act as Senate Vote Looms
What Happens To RITS?
The consultation focuses on how RITS could support tokenised assets and forms of tokenised private money without creating new risks for the financial system.
One option being considered is the use of central bank reserves to support stablecoins and tokenised deposits. The RBA says this could allow different forms of money to “work seamlessly across the financial system”.
Project Acacia also looked at models where stablecoin issuers could hold central bank reserves through a bank. In one example, stablecoin issuer Forte used a banking arrangement to back its tokens with central bank money.
Another proposal involves “synchronisation” between tokenised asset platforms and RITS. The idea is to coordinate the transfer of an asset with its payment, creating delivery-versus-payment settlement. A similar approach is already used in Australia’s property market.
The consultation is open for submissions until 30 October 2026.
No Retail CBDC For Now
The RBA and Treasury have also published a new assessment of whether Australia needs a retail central bank digital currency.
Their conclusion is the same as in 2024: there isn’t a clear public interest case for putting a digital dollar in consumers’ wallets.
The assessment draws on independent research from Verian Group, which found that Australians’ existing payment options are generally meeting their needs.
For now, that leaves the RBA focused on the wholesale side of digital money and tokenised markets, rather than developing a retail CBDC.
The bank has also begun publishing regular updates on Project Acacia’s different workstreams, with the next stage likely to focus on how the proposed infrastructure could work in practice.
Read also: Strategy CEO Defends Bitcoin Sale as Company Ramps Up Buying Again
CBDCs,Reserve Bank of Australia,Retail#RBA #Opens #Settlement #System #Tokenised #Finance #Rules #Retail #CBDC1788513378
