Cross-border Financial Revolution: Australia's Investment in Decentralized Monetary Architecture via the Acacia Project
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) have embarked on an ambitious project, named Acacia, to modernize and improve Australia's wholesale financial markets [1][2][3]. This initiative, supported by financial regulators including ASIC and Treasury, focuses on utilizing wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and tokenized assets.
As of mid-2025, the Acacia Project has entered a public, experimental trial phase, spanning six months, with 24 selected industry participants [2][3][4]. These include major banks like Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac, and various fintech partners. The trial tests 24 use cases, 19 of which involve real asset and monetary transactions, and 5 simulated proof-of-concepts, across diverse asset classes such as fixed income, trade receivables, carbon credits, private markets, and new applications tied to RBA accounts [3][4].
A distinctive feature is the project's world-first experiment deploying multiple distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) like Hedera, Redbelly Network, and Corda to enable CBDC interoperability [1]. This could accelerate cross-border payments and asset trading, especially in sustainability-focused sectors like renewable energy and carbon credits.
The Acacia Project's second phase, launched on July 10, includes a six-month trial with these 24 use cases. The project offers temporary regulatory exemptions granted by ASIC, allowing participants to experiment with digital assets not yet covered by current legislation [2].
The initiative aims to explore how programmable money, atomic settlement (simultaneous trade and payment), and CBDC interoperability can reduce counterparty risk, lower capital requirements, and increase market efficiency and transparency [1]. The results of this phase, due in the first quarter of 2026, are expected to define the future of Australian financial infrastructure [2][4].
The Acacia Project demonstrates that financial digitization is not just a technological issue, but also one of governance, institutional cooperation, and strategic vision. It positions Australia as a pioneer in integrating CBDCs and tokenized assets into wholesale finance, which may accelerate the digital transformation of global financial markets [1].
Over 130 countries are exploring or implementing CBDCs, but few have managed to integrate real-world tests with institutional actors and adaptive regulatory frameworks like Australia has [5]. The selected use cases in the Acacia Project will help the bank and the country better understand how central bank innovations and private digital money could enhance wholesale financial markets' functioning.
The impact on the global financial market could be significant: adoption of these innovations may catalyze a shift in how wholesale financial markets operate worldwide, enhancing settlement speed and security while enabling new financial products and ecosystems. By setting standards on tokenized asset settlement and CBDC usage in wholesale markets, Project Acacia could influence other central banks and financial systems to innovate similarly, promoting interoperability and digital asset adoption internationally [1][2].
References:
[1] Reserve Bank of Australia. (2025). Project Acacia: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and Tokenised Assets. Retrieved from https://www.rba.gov.au/project-acacia
[2] Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre. (2025). Acacia Project: Enhancing Wholesale Financial Markets with CBDCs, Stablecoins, and Tokenized Assets. Retrieved from https://www.dfcrc.com.au/acacia-project
[3] Australian Financial Review. (2025). Acacia Project: Australia's CBDC and Tokenised Assets Trial Begins. Retrieved from https://www.afr.com/business/banking-finance/acacia-project-australias-cbdc-and-tokenised-assets-trial-begins-20250521-p58l3q
[4] The Australian. (2025). Acacia Project: Australia's Digital Finance Revolution. Retrieved from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/acacia-project-australias-digital-finance-revolution/news-story/4062d6b809279d378ecf82331647e394
[5] Financial Stability Board. (2023). Global CBDC Developments. Retrieved from https://www.fsb.org/2023/03/global-cbdc-developments/
- The Acacia Project, a collaboration between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, is investigating the integration ofhealth-and-wellness technology, such as CBD products, into the wholesale financial markets.
- The exploration of programmable money in the Acacia Project could potentially lead to the creation of new financial products that blend science and technology, like those focused on health-and-wellness and sustainability sectors, such as carbon credits.
- As the Acacia Project advances, it's anticipated that the learnings derived from the trial involving real asset and monetary transactions could pave the way for innovative health-and-wellness offerings within the Australia's wholesale financial markets, facilitated by digital assets and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
