The Reserve Bank of Australia will collaborate with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre on a project exploring use cases for a CBDC in Australia.
According to RBA, the project with the DFCRC will help address this gap by focusing on innovative use cases and business models that could be supported by the issuance of a CBDC.
The project will also be, in the opinion of the RBA, an opportunity to further understanding of some of the technological, legal and regulatory considerations associated with a CBDC.
The project – which is expected to take about a year to complete – will involve the development of a limited-scale CBDC pilot that will operate in a ring-fenced environment for a period of time and is intended to involve a pilot CBDC that is a real claim on the Reserve Bank.
Interested industry participants will be invited to develop specific use cases that demonstrate how a CBDC could be used to provide innovative and value-added payment and settlement services to households and businesses. The Bank and the DFCRC will select a range of different use cases to participate in the pilot, based on their potential to provide insights into the possible benefits of the currency.
A report on the findings from the project, including an assessment of the various use cases developed, will be published at the conclusion. The findings will contribute to ongoing research into the desirability and feasibility of the currency in Australia.
A paper will be published in the next few months that will explain the objectives and approach of the project in more detail and how industry participants will be able to engage.
Michelle Bullock – deputy governor of the Reserve Bank – said, “This project is an important next step in our research on CBDC. We are looking forward to engaging with a wide range of industry participants to better understand the potential benefits a CBDC could bring to Australia.”
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