RBA Strategically Focuses on Wholesale CBDC R&D, Holds Off on Retail Version

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has released a strategy statement announcing that it will prioritize the development of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), while holding off on plans for a retail version of the CBDC, according to Coindesk. In the statement, the RBA's Assistant Governor for Financial Systems, Brad Jones, noted that the wholesale CBDC demonstrates more significant potential benefits and faces fewer challenges than the retail version. There are relatively fewer challenges.

In his subsequent policy speech, Jones emphasized, “Our first priority is to work with the industry to launch the wholesale CBDC and commercial bank deposit tokenization program. Research priorities will focus on cutting-edge concepts such as new distributed ledger technology, 'programmability' and 'atomized settlement', assessing their potential impact on the Australian financial system and macroeconomy.”

According to the RBA's newly released study, no clear public benefits have yet been identified from a retail CBDC, primarily because Australia's existing retail payments system already serves the needs of its citizens relatively well. However, the RBA and Treasury have indicated that this assessment may be adjusted over time as international experience is gained and domestic research is conducted.

To this end, the RBA and Treasury plan to launch a broad public consultation on retail CBDCs in 2025, with in-depth research and empirical experimentation continuing over the coming years. The Departments are committed to publishing a joint comprehensive report in 2027 that systematically explores the potential benefits of retail CBDCs and the specific forms they might take.