The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has revealed its next phase of the digital asset pilot program. According to the Australian central bank, the initiative will focus on how virtual currencies and tokenized assets can provide support to the wholesale financial markets.
The apex bank made the disclosure on Thursday through an official statement. As indicated, RBA said partners participating in the program can use stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and a central bank digital currency that is currently in its testing phase.Â
Furthermore, the statement established that various local fintech setups and banks within Australia were selected for the program. More so, the participants will carry out 24 use cases while 19 of them involve fiats and 4 proofs-of-concept for simulated transactions.
Additionally, numerous ranges of asset classes such as fixed income, private markets, and carbon credits would be tested as part of the initiative. At its core, the announcement established that these tests will also extend to new ways of using bank accounts at the RBA.
Similarly, the participants include three top banks in Australia such as the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), and Westpac Banking Corporation. To ensure a smooth trial, the RBA said it has received the backing of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
With the green light, the regulator will grant a waiver to the participants, allowing them to try digital assets that are not under its regulatory framework.
The central bank of Australia further established that the new program will run for 6 months, asserting that the outcome will become public by early 2026. In addition, the program is the second phase of Project Acacia, a joint effort of the RBA and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre launched in November 2024.
Developing crypto regulation framework in Australia
In recent times, the Australian government has shown strong support for the digital assets sector. Recall that in March 2025, the ruling center-left Labour Party of Australia introduced new cryptocurrency regulations that oversee the activities of virtual asset service providers in the country.
According to the Treasury Department, cryptocurrency exchanges and other custody service providers will operate under the new law. Similarly, the regulation upholds existing compliance standards for other financial services in Australia.
Some of these guidelines focus on protecting customers’ assets, having minimum capital requirements, and gaining an Australian Financial Services Licence. In April 2025, Binbits reported that the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) warned inactive cryptocurrency exchanges to resume operations or risk losing their license.
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