The Reserve Bank is collaborating with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) on a research project to explore use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia. A White Paper released on 26 September outlined the objectives and approach of the project in more detail, inviting industry participants to submit use cases that leverage CBDC, for potential implementation in a pilot CBDC transactional trial to be run in the first half of 2023.

More than 140 Submissions Received

The deadline provided for use case submissions for the transactional trial closed on 31 October. This date was chosen in order to allow sufficient time for review and selection of use cases for participation in the transactional pilot. Industry participation has been strong, with over 140 use case submissions to date.

The submissions include a number of use cases that are high-level or conceptual in nature, which are not being proposed for near-term implementation in the transactional pilot. These submissions are valuable inputs to the broader CBDC research project, which is focusing on the financial or payment services that might become feasible if a CBDC was introduced in Australia. In turn, this will assist considerations about the potential economic benefits and design of a CBDC.

Digital Finance CRC: CBDC Program

For details visit: Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre.