Australian central bank to launch ‘live pilot’ of CBDC in coming months

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Australia’s central bank is set to launch a “live pilot” of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) “in the coming months,” according to a joint statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Digital Finance CRC (DFCRC), an Australian financial research institute.

The RBA said on Mar. 2 local time said it was collaborating with the DFCRC on a research project to “explore potential use cases and economic benefits of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia.”

The RBA announced the initial stage of the research project involved the selection of several financial industry participants to demonstrate potential use cases of the CBDC, which will provide possible benefits of a CBDC.

This will involve a”live pilot,” which the RBA says will take place over the coming months.

Use cases being piloted will include offline payments, tax automation and a CBDC for “trusted Web3 commerce,” while participants of the trial range from banks, such as Commonwealth Bank and Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) bank to payment providers such as Mastercard.

Selected CBDC use cases and the providers of each. Source: RBA

Brad Jones, Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the RBA said, “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.”

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.