TechFlow reports that on September 18, according to CoinDesk, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a strategic statement announcing it will prioritize the development of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), while putting its retail CBDC plans on hold. Brad Jones, Assistant Governor for Financial System at the RBA, stated that compared to a retail CBDC, a wholesale CBDC presents more significant potential benefits and faces relatively fewer challenges.
In a subsequent policy speech, Jones emphasized: "Our priority is to work with the industry to launch projects on wholesale CBDCs and tokenization of bank deposits. Research will focus on cutting-edge concepts such as new distributed ledger technologies, 'programmability,' and 'atomic settlement,' assessing their potential impact on Australia's financial system and macroeconomy."
According to the RBA's latest research report, no clear public benefits have so far been identified for a retail CBDC, primarily because Australia's existing retail payment systems already adequately meet citizens' needs. However, the RBA and the Treasury note that this assessment may evolve over time as international experience accumulates and domestic research deepens.
To this end, the RBA and the Treasury plan to conduct extensive public consultations on a retail CBDC in 2025, continuing in-depth research and empirical experiments over the coming years. The two agencies have committed to jointly publish a comprehensive report in 2027, systematically examining the potential advantages and possible design options for a retail CBDC.
