Overview
- The Reserve Bank of Australia, which presented Project Acacia findings Wednesday, said tokenization is now a “how” question and put the annual payoff near AU$24 billion.
- The bank and agencies including ASIC and AUSTRAC will stand up a stage‑gated market sandbox, review settlement‑account access after licensing reforms, and expand a deposit‑token working group.
- Tests covered bonds, repos, and funds with four settlement options, and the RBA said stablecoins fit smaller new markets while bank deposit tokens suit larger regulated flows, with a wholesale CBDC helpful but not essential.
- Lawmakers are preparing to bring crypto platforms and tokenized custody under Australia’s financial‑services regime, and industry leaders say the new sandbox plan could unlock institutional participation.
- Tokenization puts assets and cash on the same digital rails for instant, synchronized settlement, yet Australia’s AUD stablecoin market remains tiny at about US$10.5 million.