According to a white paper released on Monday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) anticipates finishing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial by the middle of 2023.
The Reserve Bank, the Central Bank of Australia, and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) worked together to publish a technical whitepaper on the CBDC of the future.
According to a press release, the pilot’s goal is to “examine creative use cases” that may be facilitated by the issuing of a CBDC. The study was reported to be looking into regulatory aspects related to a CBDC in the white paper, a document created by the bank that may eventually be used to advise future regulations.
The RBA did not explicitly state that it will issue a CBDC in the document, but it did state that it is looking for industry participants’ input to “add to continuing study.” According to the paper, the experiment is anticipated to be completed by the start of next year, with results being released in the middle of 2023.
The CBDC research study in Australia began in July, and the pilot phase began in August. The report was released after Australian opposition leader by Andrew Bragg criticized the present administration, which is headed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for its “inaction” on cryptocurrency. In the meanwhile, the Albanesian administration said it would adopt “token mapping” as a foundation for legislation.
Additional information on the CBDC project is included in the white paper, including the fact that eAUD would be the name of Australia’s experimental currency and that all participants in the initiative must be invited and authorized.
Russia Is Planning to Utilize CBDC in International Trades
Recent reports suggest that Russia may utilize its domestic digital currency to settle international commerce. The country is now in the pilot phase of its central bank digital currency development (CBDC). A Reuters article claims that by the end of the next year, Russia intends to utilize the digital ruble for settlements with China. The digital ruble is presently being tested for bank settlement and is anticipated to be finished by the beginning of 2019.
In the third week of September, the US Treasury Department added 22 people and two organizations with addresses in Russia to the sanctions list. In response to the intensifying Western sanctions on Russia as a result of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the nation has been aggressively seeking out alternative banking and commercial agreements.
The chairman of Russia’s lower house of parliament’s finance committee, Anatoly Aksakov, recently acknowledged that Russia’s access to the world market has been hampered by the geopolitical turmoil. Because of this, they have been aggressively seeking for alternative payment systems and trade settlement methods; at the time, national digital currency seems to be the top contender.
