Australia’s central bank plans to test settlements in tokenized assets., 2026/03/26 15:56:13

The Reserve Bank of Australia is set to establish a regulatory sandbox aimed at testing tokenized assets and central bank digital currency (CBDC). This was announced by Deputy Governor of the financial regulator, Brad Jones.

The official discussed Project Acacia—a collaborative initiative between the central bank and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), supported by interested businesses. The project has explored the potential of a digital Australian dollar and tokenized assets for facilitating transfers between banks and major financial institutions. Its goal is to enhance the speed and transparency of transactions.

According to estimates from the central bank, tokenized assets and their associated infrastructure could contribute approximately AUD 24 billion (around USD 16.7 billion) annually to the nation’s economy. Based on findings from Project Acacia, the regulator is no longer questioning the necessity of integrating tokenization into Australia’s financial system. The central bank is confident that tokenization is inevitable. The agency is examining how to implement it in actual transactions, Jones stated.

The senior official indicated that the Reserve Bank of Australia is open to collaborating with businesses, thus it will create a new government-regulated sandbox where companies and authorities can safely test transactions involving tokenized assets and wholesale CBDC. The central bank also intends to investigate whether tokenized assets can be utilized within its own information and payment transfer system (RITS).

Recently, Bloomberg reported that the Australian pension fund Hostplus, which manages assets of around AUD 105 billion, has pledged to provide its contributors with access to cryptocurrency investments. In addition to Bitcoin, the fund’s clients may be offered tokenized assets.