The Reserve Bank of Australia, in partnership with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, announced the launch of the second phase of Project Acacia focused on testing digital money and tokenized settlements.
Phases of Project Acacia
Currently, 24 use cases have been selected to test how digital money and tokenized settlement models can transform wholesale financial markets. This phase will involve 19 pilot use cases using real assets and transactions, along with five proofs-of-concept using simulated data.
Testing Objectives
The trials will focus on the use of stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits, and a pilot wholesale CBDC for settling various asset classes, including fixed income, private markets, trade receivables, and carbon credits. 'The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money might uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia,' said Brad Jones, Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the RBA.
Participants and Timeline
Participants in the pilot include both fintech startups and major financial institutions, such as ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, and Westpac. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has granted regulatory relief to allow pilot participants to conduct transactions that may not yet fall under existing frameworks. This second phase of the project will run for six months, with findings to be published in the first quarter of 2026.
Launched in late 2024, Project Acacia aims to explore how emerging forms of digital money and tokenized assets can modernize Australia’s wholesale financial infrastructure, aligning with the federal government's broader digital asset strategy.
