The Reserve Bank of Australia has moved closer to backing real-world asset tokenization as part of its future market strategy.
Summary
- RBA estimates tokenized assets could add 24 billion dollars annually to Australia’s financial system.
- Project Acacia explores how tokenization can improve wholesale markets and financial infrastructure efficiency nationwide.
- RBA plans sandbox to test tokenized assets CBDC and integration with existing payment systems.
The shift follows new Project Acacia findings that tokenized finance and related infrastructure could add about 24 billion Australian dollars, or $16.7 billion, to the economy each year.
Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the debate has moved beyond whether tokenization belongs in Australia’s financial system. He said the focus is now on how it should be introduced and tested in a practical way.
In his March 25 speech, Jones said,
”We no longer see the main question as whether tokenisation has a future in Australia’s financial system, but rather, how.”
He also referred to industry views that tokenized finance and related infrastructure changes could be ”revolutionary.”
Project Acacia is a joint research effort led by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre with support from public agencies and industry groups. It builds on earlier central bank digital currency work and studies whether tokenized assets can improve how Australia’s wholesale financial markets operate.
Jones said the estimated economic gain from tokenization is about A$24 billion a year, with room for more if new markets develop. The DFCRC report linked those gains to better market efficiency, faster settlement, and broader use of digital finance infrastructure.
In addition, Jones said the RBA will work with agencies and industry groups to explore a new digital financial market infrastructure sandbox. The proposed testing environment would give firms and policymakers a controlled space to trial tokenized assets, tokenized money, and new settlement systems.
He said the next phase will examine how wholesale CBDC, bank deposit tokens, and stablecoins could work together. The RBA also wants to study how tokenized asset ledgers can connect with the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System.
Global tokenization market keeps growing
Australia’s move comes as the wider tokenized asset market continues to expand. McKinsey has projected tokenized assets could approach $2 trillion by 2030, while Australia’s securities regulator has already urged the country to move early rather than fall behind.
Market data also shows continued growth in onchain real-world assets. RWA.xyz listed distributed asset value at about $26.6 billion on March 26, excluding stablecoins, showing that tokenization activity remains on an upward path.
