Project Acacia is an Australian initiative to support the settlement of tokenized transactions using stablecoins, tokenized deposits or a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC). It was first announced in late 2024. As with previous digital currency pilots, it is a joint project between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). The securities regulator ASIC has provided some regulatory exemptions during the six month span of the project.
One of the most notable aspects is that the wCBDC will be issued on a range of public and private blockchains and DLTs. For example, Australian Payments Plus is a participant on the Hedera public network. Apart from Hedera, the DLTs for the pilot include Redbelly Network, R3 Corda, Canvas Connect and other EVM-compatible networks.
Twenty-four use cases have been selected, with 19 of them planning to use real money. Fourteen companies will participate, including three of the big four Australian banks and Northern Trust. However, National Australia Bank is not one of the participants.
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