Latest news with #DFCRC
Coin Geek
15 hours ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
Australia's 'Project Acacia' enters next stage of testing
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Australia's central bank announced it was moving to the next phase of its tokenized asset settlement research project, having selected the industry participants and use cases to explore how digital money and tokenization can support wholesale financial markets. In a July 10 statement, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said that the initiative, known as 'Project Acacia,' had settled on 24 innovative use cases from a diverse selection of organizations, ranging from local fintechs to major banks, for the next stage of the project. There will be 19 pilot use cases involving real money and real asset transactions, and five proof‑of‑concept (PoC) use cases involving simulated transactions. The use cases involve a range of asset classes, including fixed income, private markets, trade receivables, and carbon credits. Project Acacia was launched in November 2024 as a joint initiative between the RBA and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). It is also being supported by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and the Australian Treasury. The next stage of the project seeks to test a variety of settlement assets, including stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), as well as new ways of using banks' existing exchange settlement accounts at the RBA. Several major Australian banks, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation, and Westpac Banking Corporation, are among the pilot participants. The RBA also revealed that the pilot wholesale CBDC for testing use cases will be issued on a range of private and public‑permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms, including Hedera, Redbelly Network, R3 Corda, Canvas Connect, and other EVM Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)‑compatible networks. 'Project Acacia represents an opportunity for further collaborative exploration on tokenised asset markets and the future of money by the public and private sectors in Australia,' said Brad Jones, Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the RBA. 'The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money, alongside payments infrastructure, might help to uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia.' He added that 'ensuring that Australia's payments and monetary arrangements are fit‑for‑purpose in the digital age is a strategic priority for the RBA.' The use cases will be tested over the next six months, and a report on the project's findings is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2026. According to the RBA, the findings of this next stage of the project will support the central bank's ongoing research into how innovation in the financial system can best support the Australian economy in the digital age. The project's partner agencies praised its progression to the next testing phase. 'Project Acacia will allow industry and regulators to work together to learn more about how these use cases may reshape the financial services industry, potentially boosting efficiency and foster economic growth,' said Kate O'Rourke, ASIC Commissioner. 'ASIC sees useful applications for the technologies underlying digital assets in wholesale markets.' ASIC, Australia's top finance sector regulator, is providing regulatory relief to participants to support and streamline the project. Meanwhile, Professor Talis Putnins, Chief Scientist at DFCRC, highlighted the potential gains the project could yield. 'Potential economic gains in markets and cross-border payments could be in the order of AUD19 billion per year,' said Putnins. 'Project Acacia is a significant step towards realising these gains, by providing evidence on the forms of money and settlement models that best enable tokenised real‑world asset markets.' He added that 'the real money settlement models being tested, including issuing pilot wholesale CBDC on third-party platforms, reflects another world‑first for Australia in this rapidly evolving field.' Project Acacia: Launch and goals Launched in November 2024, the initial phase of Project Acacia involved a public consultation by the RBA, in which it sought input from ecosystem players to participate in the studies on the role of privately issued digital currencies and CBDCs in improving the tokenized asset market. A core aim of Project Acacia is experimenting with a new form of tokenized central bank money, focusing on issuance on third-party blockchain networks, rather than being issued by the central bank itself. Turning to third parties, the project posited, offers a raft of benefits, such as cross-network settlements and serving as a bridge for different assets. 'The aim is to examine how innovation in wholesale markets could be enabled by new forms of digital money and supporting infrastructure,' said RBA Deputy Governor Brad Jones when the project was announced. 'The role that tokenized asset markets could play in improving the efficiency and resilience of wholesale payments and settlements, and in enhancing cross-border payments, are areas of particular interest.' Another goal of Project Acacia was to experiment with deposit tokens, stablecoins, reserve-backed digital currency, and funds in Exchange Settlement Accounts. Now that the use cases and participant organizations have been selected, the project takes its next steps toward achieving these various goals. Watch: Richard Baker on engineering a smarter financial world with blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
RBA announces huge crypto move
The Reserve Bank of Australia is taking the next step in creating a new digital version of the Australian dollar. Dubbed Project Acacia, the RBA has announced it is moving to the trial phase by getting partners on-board to try out digital coins. Project Acacia is a joint initiative between the RBA and the Digital Finance Co-operative Research Centre (DFCRC). The move follows a successful completion of phase 1 in August that was based on conceptual research. Phase 2 testing is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2026. As part of the trial, three of the four major banks and other participants will test stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) as well as new ways of using banks' existing exchange bank accounts at the RBA. RBA assistant governor Brad Jones said ensuring that Australia's payments and monetary arrangements were fit-for-purpose in the digital age was a strategic priority for the RBA and its payments system board. 'The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money, alongside payments infrastructure, might help to uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia,' he said. During the trial phase, the RBA has outsourced work to third parties, including Hedera, Redbelly, R3 Corda and Canvas Connect, to test the central bank digital currency The bank is seeking 24 innovative use cases, including 19 pilot cases, which will involve real money and real asset transfers as well as five proof-of-concept use cases involving simulated transactions. ASIC commissioner Kate O'Rourke said innovation was a sign of a vibrant economy and society, with the regulatory body supporting responsible development of new technologies. 'ASIC sees useful applications for the technologies underlying digital assets in wholesale markets,' she said. 'The relief from regulatory requirements that we have announced will allow these technologies to be sensibly tested – to explore opportunities and identify and tackle risks.' ASIC has given the project regulatory relief to allow participants to transact using the digital Australian dollar. 'Importantly, Project Acacia will allow industry and regulators to work together to learn more about how these use cases may reshape the financial services industry, potentially boosting efficiency and foster economic growth,' Ms O'Rourke said. DFCRC chief scientist Talis Putnins said it was great to have collaboration from so many parts of the industry, from small fintechs to large banks, alongside the key financial regulators in this innovative project. 'The real money settlement models being tested, including issuing pilot wholesale CBDC on third-party platforms, reflects another world-first for Australia in this rapidly evolving field,' Professor Putnins said. RBA governor Michele Bullock suggested that she didn't believe in alternative payment solutions such as bitcoin during a parliamentary inquiry back in February. 'It doesn't have a solid value. You can't be guaranteed that what it's worth today it will be worth the same thing tomorrow,' she said. 'It's extremely slow relative to other payment systems (that) you can get transactions through in milliseconds.' Ms Bullock, however, said that was her personal opinion and not one held by the RBA. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Northern Trust Advances Tokenized Finance Innovation in Australia through Project Acacia
Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) announced a collaboration with Swift to explore how tokenized assets such as carbon credits can be transacted using a commercial bank account in Australia. The initiative, which aims to demonstrate how digital asset innovation can connect seamlessly with core components of the financial system, is part of Project Acacia, a research project led by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). The initiative will be supported by The Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem™, a fully digital platform for the end-to-end lifecycle management of digital carbon credits which utilizes private ledger digital blockchain technology. With Northern Trust recording, transferring and settling digital carbon credits as instructed in its role as designated custodian, the project will simulate a delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlement between a tokenized, digital carbon credit and fiat currency, using Swift's infrastructure to coordinate between the asset and payment layers. The aim is to illustrate how traditional commercial banking infrastructure can support simultaneous settlement of tokenized assets. This marks a key step forward in demonstrating interoperability between tokenized ecosystems and traditional financial infrastructure. Establishing such connectivity is critical for digital assets to become an integral part of the global capital markets. Justin Chapman, Group Head of Strategic Partnerships, Digital Assets and Financial Markets at Northern Trust, said: 'The evolution of tokenized markets hinges on our ability to link emerging asset types with traditional infrastructure. By collaborating on Project Acacia, Northern Trust is helping to prove that delivery-versus-payment of tokenized assets is not a future ideal but a present-day reality. Through The Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem and engagement with initiatives like this, we aim to shape the market infrastructure that will underpin sustainable finance and institutional digital asset adoption.' Northern Trust's involvement in Project Acacia reflects its continued commitment to collaborative innovation in digital finance. The project follows its participation in other forward-looking initiatives, including Project Guardian in Singapore, where Northern Trust is working with institutional partners to pilot a green bond report tokenization solution. More recently, Northern Trust also joined Project Ensemble in Hong Kong to test cross border trading of carbon credits. Angelo Calvitto, Head of Asia-Pacific at Northern Trust: 'This collaboration demonstrates our regional leadership in bringing digital innovation to market. Australia is playing an important role in advancing real-world research, and we're proud to contribute our expertise to a project that bridges tokenized asset platforms with banking systems in a regulated environment. Our experience across carbon markets, tokenization and financial services puts us in a strong position to help chart the next phase of market evolution.' The Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem™, launched in 2024, supports the growing interest in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) by providing an end-to-end digital lifecycle management capability for digital voluntary carbon credits. Utilizing custom designed, private ledger digital blockchain technology, it provides a digital platform for project developers and buyers to explore, transact and retire voluntary carbon credits. Kevin Wong, Chief Executive APAC, Swift: 'The ability to integrate tokenized assets with existing financial infrastructure is critical to unlocking their full potential. This initiative demonstrates how Swift's infrastructure can support the adoption of digital assets such as carbon credits in a delivery-versus-payment model. By enabling interoperability between existing banking infrastructures and emerging digital ecosystems, we're helping to lay the groundwork for scalable, secure, and sustainable adoption of tokenized finance across the globe.' Project Acacia is a research project being led by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre to explore how different forms of digital money and associated infrastructure could support the development of wholesale tokenized asset markets in Australia. The Northern Trust Carbon Ecosystem is offered through The Northern Trust Company, Chicago. About Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 24 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of March 31, 2025, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$16.9 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.6 trillion. For more than 135 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit us on Follow us on Instagram @northerntrustcompany or Northern Trust on LinkedIn. .
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fireblocks Joins Project Acacia to Explore the Role of Digital Money in Wholesale Tokenised Asset Markets
Leading digital asset infrastructure provider joins forces with companies including NotCentralised, Redbelly Network, Australian Bond Exchange, and Fasanara Capital to pilot atomic settlement of tokenised securities using CBDC, stablecoins, and deposit tokens. SYDNEY, July 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fireblocks, an enterprise platform providing digital asset infrastructure solutions to businesses building on blockchain, is proud to announce its participation in Project Acacia, an initiative led by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) exploring how digital forms of money—such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and deposit tokens—could support the development of wholesale tokenised asset markets in Australia. Project Acacia is being conducted in two phases: the first phase, completed in 2024, focused on conceptual research and defined a 'design space' for potential settlement models using different forms of digital money. The second phase, currently underway, involves developing and testing prototypes of selected models for the settlement of transactions in tokenised assets, framed by industry-led use cases. Fireblocks' proposal—developed in collaboration with companies including NotCentralised, Redbelly Network, Australian Bond Exchange, and Fasanara Capital—has been conditionally selected for experimentation as part of Phase 2. The use case seeks to demonstrate how a wholesale CBDC can be used to reduce counterparty risk through delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlement of tokenised securities, while simultaneously ensuring the singleness of money between the different stablecoin and deposit tokens held by the buyer and seller of the security. The use case aims to demonstrate: Seamless workflows for issuance, trading, and atomic settlement of tokenised securities on a permissioned public blockchain The potential benefits of combining central bank-issued digital money with tokenised forms of private money, such as deposit tokens and stablecoins Increased efficiency, reduced counterparty risk, and enhanced composability through programmable, on-chain settlement infrastructure Initially launched as a proof of concept using test networks and simulated assets, the use case may progress to a pilot with real-world transactions, depending on results and regulatory guidance. "Fireblocks is honoured to support the applied research effort of Project Acacia and contribute to exploring innovative models for the future of settlement in tokenised asset markets," said Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks. "We are proud to collaborate with regulators and leading market participants to test infrastructure that could enhance the efficiency, resilience, and inclusiveness of Australia's financial system." Arturo Rodriguez, CEO of NotCentralised, commented, "Project Acacia is playing a pivotal role for the development of open capital markets. Through this collaboration, we are executing the first end-to-end securitised flow connecting capital markets to the real world economy using blockchain rails. As a capital markets advisory in emerging technologies and a financial engineering studio, we are humbled by the opportunity to have designed and structured the first privacy enhanced securitisation flow on a public blockchain with a CBDC." "Redbelly Network is the only public blockchain selected to support a wholesale CBDC for the purposes of the exploratory work in Project Acacia. It is our view that CBDCs will become a foundational component of modern capital markets, enabling the interoperability of stablecoins and deposit tokens - private money by underwriting peg stability. Unlike stablecoins, CBDC carries sovereign counterparty risk - effectively zero, while Redbelly's deterministic finality eliminates settlement risk. Together, these features provide the secure and compliant infrastructure required for a programmable Open Capital Market," said Alan Burt, Chairman of Redbelly Network. "Fasanara Capital is excited to collaborate with industry experts and regulators through Project Acacia to explore the future of tokenised settlement," said Francesco Filia, CEO at Fasanara Capital. "This joint initiative reflects the importance of industry-wide cooperation in shaping the innovative infrastructure that could better support the evolving needs of wholesale markets." Project Acacia is overseen by a Steering Committee comprising senior representatives from the RBA, DFCRC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and Treasury. Varun Paul, Senior Director of Financial Markets at Fireblocks, is a member of the Industry Advisory Group which has also been established to provide broad-based input into the project. The RBA and DFCRC intend to publish a report on the project's findings by the end of 2025. View original content: SOURCE Fireblocks
Finextra
6 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Australia to commence multiple trials of tokenised asset settlement and CBDC
Project Acacia, a joint initiative between the Reserve Bank of Australia and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), has selected 14 participants to undertake trials of tokenised asset settlement in financial markets. 1 24 innovative use cases from a diverse range of organisations, ranging from local fintechs to major banks, have been conditionally selected for this next stage of the project. This will include 19 pilot use cases, which will involve real money and real asset transactions, and five proof-of-concept use cases involving simulated transactions. The use cases involve a range of asset classes, including fixed income, private markets, trade receivables and carbon credits. Proposed settlement assets for the use cases include stablecoins, bank deposit tokens, and pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), as well as new ways of using banks' existing exchange settlement accounts at the RBA. Issuance of pilot wholesale CBDC for testing use cases will occur on a range of private and public-permissioned DLT platforms, including Hedera, Redbelly Network, R3 Corda, Canvas Connect and other EVM-compatible networks. Testing of use cases will occur over the next six months, with a report on the findings from the project expected to be published in the first quarter of 2026. Brad Jones, assistant governor at the RBA says: 'Ensuring that Australia's payments and monetary arrangements are fit-for-purpose in the digital age is a strategic priority for the RBA and the Payments System Board. Project Acacia represents an opportunity for further collaborative exploration on tokenised asset markets and the future of money by the public and private sectors in Australia. 'The use cases selected in this project will help us to better understand how innovations in central bank and private digital money, alongside payments infrastructure, might help to uplift the functioning of wholesale financial markets in Australia. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (Asic) is providing regulatory relief to participants to support and streamline the pilot. Asic commissioner Kate O'Rourke says: "Asic sees useful applications for the technologies underlying digital assets in wholesale markets. The relief from regulatory requirements that we have announced today will allow these technologies to be sensibly tested—to explore opportunities and identify and tackle risks. 'Importantly, Project Acacia will allow industry and regulators to work together to learn more about how these use cases may reshape the financial services industry, potentially boosting efficiency and foster economic growth.'
