Reserve Bank of Australia advances Project Acacia to test CBDC and tokenized asset settlement

Odaily Planet Daily News: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced on Thursday that its key initiative, "Project Acacia," is entering the next phase of testing, which will explore how crypto assets and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can support the development of the country's wholesale tokenized asset market. In the upcoming phase, the project plans to test 24 use cases, with participants including fintech companies and major banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ, and Westpac. The tests will cover a variety of settlement assets, including stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and a pilot wholesale CBDC. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) stated it will provide regulatory flexibility for project participants to test tokenized asset transactions. The project is a joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, and is also a key component of the Australian government's "fit-for-purpose" digital asset framework. (The Block)