Reserve Bank Of Australia Expects CBDC Pilot To Be Completed In 2023

CBDC Pilot to Conclude in 2023

According to a press release, the pilot aims to "examine creative use cases" that might be facilitated by issuing a CBDC. The Australian government's white paper, which will get used in suggesting new laws, stated that the project also examined the regulatory issues related to a CBDC.

The RBA did not explicitly state that it would issue a CBDC in the document, but it did state that it is looking for industry participants' input to "add to ongoing study." The trial anticipates its conclusion at the start of next year, with results released in the middle of 2023.

Australian Bank's Digital Currency Project

The Reserve Bank of Australia has partnered with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFRC) to launch the CBDC program. It involved the development of a limited-scale CBDC project that operated in a ring-fenced environment and involved a pilot CBDC which is an absolute claim on the RBA. Interested participants were invited to develop specific use cases and suggest how a CBDC could be used to provide innovative and value-added payment and settlement services to households and businesses.

The Australian CBDC project's research phase began in July 2022, and the pilot phase got underway in August. After Australian opposition lawmaker Andrew Bragg criticized the current administration, headed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for its "inaction" regarding cryptocurrency, the document was released. The Albanese government declared it would employ "token mapping" as a framework for regulation in the meanwhile.

Additional information on the CBDC project is provided in the white paper, including that all participants in the experiment must be invited and approved and that Australia's pilot currency will be known as the eAUD.