RBA finds no public case for a retail CBDC

The Reserve Bank of Australia has concluded there is no clear public interest in a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank’s assessment found current payment systems meet the needs of Australian households and do not justify introducing a public retail digital currency at this time.

The view draws on a public consultation run by Verian Group that asked Australians about payment habits, needs and opinions on a possible retail CBDC. The consultation outcome aligns with a 2024 joint paper by the RBA and the Treasury on central bank digital currency and the future of digital money in Australia, which reported limited public demand for a retail CBDC.

The RBA also reviewed results from Project Acacia, a national research initiative that explored digital money in wholesale tokenised asset markets. Project Acacia developed and tested 24 use cases. Nineteen of those involved real-world transactions across asset classes, including fixed income, private markets and trade receivables. The work examined how digital money and tokenisation could affect settlement processes for large-value and institutional transactions.

Following Project Acacia, the bank opened a consultation on the role of its high-value settlement system, RITS, in a tokenised ecosystem. The consultation seeks views on how RITS settlement services could support development and growth of tokenised asset markets and tokenised private money in Australia. The consultation period runs until 30 October 2026.

A retail CBDC would provide central bank money to households and businesses for everyday payments. Wholesale digital money and tokenised private money are focused on transactions between financial institutions and on settlement of tokenised assets. RITS is the RBA’s real-time, high-value settlement system that provides settlement services for banks and other eligible participants and is central to how settlement infrastructure might change with tokenisation.

The bank indicated the evidence from the public consultation and Project Acacia will inform further analysis and targeted initiatives to address specific gaps or risks in payments and settlement arrangements.