The Australian central bank has announced that it will study any potential economic gains from the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
In a recent statement, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced that it would conduct a year-long pilot project to investigate novel use cases and business models for a CBDC and improve its understanding of related technological, legal, and regulatory issues.
The RBA will collaborate on this project with the government-backed industry group Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), which will ask business leaders to create specific use cases that show how a CBDC could offer cutting-edge payment and settlement services to consumers and businesses.
The RBA stated that the pilot’s findings will guide continued research into the viability and acceptability of a CBDC in Australia.
“This project is an important next step in our research on CBDC. We are looking forward to engaging with a wide range of industry participants to better understand the potential benefits a CBDC could bring to Australia,” RBA Deputy Governor Michele Bullock said in a statement.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that almost 100 nations are considering implementing CBDCs, with some countries, like China and the Bahamas, actually releasing their digital currencies to the general population.
Advocates of CBDC claim that the emerging technology will facilitate quicker and less expensive transactions, advance financial inclusion, and provide central banks more monetary policy flexibility.