Australian crypto news is abuzz with the news that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is ready to launch phase 2 of its Project Acacia initiative. As Australia’s central bank, the RBA launched Project Acacia as an effort to put tokenisation finance to the test.
As part of phase 2, Project Acacia will be a pilot programme that tests bank deposit tokens, acts as a trial CBDC in actual markets, and drags stablecoins, all while under the tight regulatory watch of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The RBA confirmed recently that it will run the project in tandem with ASIC, which gives the project a chance to stress-test the tokenisation process, one that would typically run into a lot of compliance challenges and roadblocks.
Tokenising Traditional Markets
Without a doubt, one of the hottest discussions within the Australian cryptocurrency landscape is tokenisation. The discussion has impacted not only cryptocurrency but traditional finance markets as well. There are inherent advantages provided through tokenisation compared to legacy systems like fine art, private equity, and real estate.
For the most part, those assets are typically reserved for wealthy investors, creating a natural barrier for new investment. Tokenisation lowers those barriers to make it more accessible to smaller investors through the possibility of fractional ownership of those assets.
Project Acacia will further develop the tokenisation of traditional assets. Doing so will provide greater liquidity into markets where there would have otherwise been none. Things like physical assets, collectibles, and private shares will be included. When tokenisation has happened, these assets are able to be traded freely without the need of a middleman (and a pricey one, at that).
The total value of on-chain real-world assets (RWAs) recently passed the $25 billion USD threshold. Tokenised US treasures are currently the second-largest niche, holding more than $7 billion in value. RBA is attempting to grow the Australian crypto market by elevating the tokenisation of these real-world assets.
RedBelly to Offer Assistance
In order to execute Project Acacia properly, the RBA is bringing in Sydney-based blockchain project RedBelly Network. RedBelly is a Web3 platform that works to improve the greater accessibility of on-chain tokenisation. It will work to help participants within the infrastructure in an effort to support AUD-based, on-chain assets.
The collaboration between the RBA and RedBelly is purely a test-based marriage. There is no regulatory endorsement or commercial launch involved. Rather, it is more of a nod to a homegrown blockchain project, showing that Australia is dedicated to developing and evolving the country’s cryptocurrency industry.
The news has been largely positive for RedBelly. Its native network token, RBNT, saw a 30% spike since the announcement of the partnership.
What is Project Acacia?
To put it simply, Project Acacia is a joint research effort between the RBA and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). The goal is to explore the various forms of digital currency and how the infrastructure is able to support the potential wholesale tokenisation of those assets.
Announced in 2024, the initiative has greater support from the Australian Treasury, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
As part of the announcement, 24 pilot use cases from a number of organisations, including major banks and fintech companies, have been selected. Of those use cases, 19 of them will involve real asset and real money transactions. Five of them will be proof-of-concept cases based on simulated transactions. Each of the use cases will involve a wide range of classes, including private markets, trade receivables, carbon credits, and fixed income.
Additionally, the proposed settlement assets for some of these use cases include stablecoins, wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), and bank deposit tokens. This is considered the “new way of using banks” and existing exchange settlement accounts, according to the RBA.
Six Months of Testing Planned
As part of Project Acacia, there are 14 different private-sector organisations that have been named as ‘lead’ use case participants. The list of companies includes: Zerocap, Westpac Banking Corporation, ProspEx Group, NotCentralised, Northern Trust, Imperium Markets, Forte Tech Solutions, Fireblocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Catena Digital, Canvas, Australian Payments Plus, Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation (ANZ), and Australian Bond Exchange.
When the six months of testing has concluded, a report on the findings will eventually be published. It is anticipated that those findings will come at some point in the first quarter of 2026.
When it comes to the pilot wholesale CBDC issuance, the testing of use cases will be held on both public and private permissioned distributed-ledger technology (DLT) platforms. The list includes RedBelly Network, R3 Cordera, Hedera, Canvas Connect, and any other “EVM-compatible networks.” The Ethereum Virtual Machine is a computing enginge that works to execute smart contracts held within the Ethereum blockchain.
The use case of tokenised trade playables looks to address cashflow and working capital challenges that suppliers face, not to mention efficiency in financial operations. This comes directly from the RBA as part of its announcement.
More specifically, the project will explore how digital currencies – including tokenisation of independent payment undertakings (IPUs) and wholesale CBDC – can lead to automated settlements and create a new level of liquidity within those wholesale markets.
Regulatory Relief from ASIC
In an announcement, RBA assistant governor of financial systems Brad Jones said, “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.”
As part of the project, ASIC will be providing regulatory relieve to the various participants in an effort to streamline and support the pilot. It is believed that the regulatory relief will come through supporting the testing of tokenised asset transactions, sometimes including CBDCs, between a limited number of financial institutions and participants.
“ASIC supports the responsible development of new technologies, including tokenisation and distributed ledgers, added ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke. “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 tackle risks.”
Continued Innovation in Australian Cryptocurrency Marketplace
At the end of the day, the goal of this pilot is to open the possibilities of the crypto marketplace to Australian investors. Regulatory oversight has been a major issue in recent years, and this is a step to put Australia at the forefront globally when it comes to the advancement and regulation of Australian crypto.
Those who have been watching the news of Project Acacia closely are no doubt excited by the move into Phase 2. With reports to come in the first quarter of 2026, it won’t be long before we find out the direction of this movement and its impact on the Australian cryptocurrency marketplace.
