ANZ Selected for RBA’s Project Acacia Pilot With Two Tokenised Finance Use Cases
ANZ today announced its participation in the next phase of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre’s (DFCRC) Project Acacia, contributing two innovative use cases focused on advancing tokenised finance in Australia.
As part of the six-month pilot program, ANZ will lead initiatives exploring Tokenised Trade Payables and Tokenised Bonds, investigating how digital money—particularly wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC)—can support the development of wholesale tokenised asset markets.
“These pilots are a unique opportunity to explore how tokenised assets and digital money can unlock new efficiencies, liquidity, and resilience in Australia’s financial system,” said Nigel Dobson, ANZ Banking Services Lead. “We’re looking forward to seeing how this could shape the future of tokenised payments.”
Use Case 1: Tokenised Trade Payables
This use case addresses working capital and cash flow challenges for suppliers by leveraging tokenisation and digital settlement. It explores the automation of legally enforceable Independent Payment Undertakings (IPUs) and the use of wCBDC to create liquidity and operational efficiency in wholesale financial operations. ANZ is joined in this initiative by Netwealth and MessageXchange, with academic support from RMIT University.
Use Case 2: Tokenised Bonds (Fixed Income)
The second pilot explores tokenising fixed income instruments to streamline issuance, corporate actions, and settlement through smart contracts. The aim is to reduce credit and liquidity risk while enabling real-time settlement using wCBDC. ANZ is working with Austraclear (ASX’s central securities depository and settlement system) as an advisor for this use case.
The pilots build on ANZ’s investments in enterprise payments infrastructure, and its leadership in digital innovation across trade, capital markets, stablecoins, and asset tokenisation.
“We’re committed to working alongside our customers and regulators to shape the future of financial infrastructure,” Mr. Dobson added.
Project Acacia is a collaborative research initiative from the RBA and DFCRC, designed to explore the real-world applications of digital money and assess its potential economic benefits, particularly in supporting the evolution of Australia’s financial ecosystem.
