Australia's central bank is launching a one-year research program on the case for a central bank digital currency CBDC in Australia, focusing on what potential economic benefits it might bring.
The Reserve Bank of Australia RBA is partnering with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre DFCRC, a government-backed industry group.
The project will try to find innovative use cases and business models that could be supported by the issuance of a CBDC, and better understand some of its technological, legal and regulatory considerations.
It will involve the development of a limited-scale CBDC pilot that will operate in a ring-fenced environment and involve a pilot CBDC that is a real claim on the RBA.
Interested industry participants will be invited to develop specific use cases that demonstrate how CBDC could be used to provide innovative and value-added payment and settlement services to households and businesses.