If Australia were to issue a digital currency, it would likely be for wholesale use rather than retail.
it is, Report The country's central bank issued a statement on Wednesday (September 18) claiming that it has not yet found a “clear public interest case” for issuing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Australia.
“This assessment is based in part on the observation that Australians are broadly well-served by the functionality and resilience of their current retail payments systems,” the report said. “In jurisdictions that have issued retail CBDCs, or have indicated they may do so in the coming years, the primary motivations have not resonated as well in Australia.”
A retail CBDC would be a digital currency used by the general public, while a wholesale version would be used by banks and other financial institutions. Reserve Bank of Australia The RBA also noted that its assessment may change as costs and benefits are better understood.
“At present, we assess that a wholesale CBDC offers more promising potential benefits and less significant challenges than a retail CBDC,” the bank's deputy governor, Brad Jones, said.
“Next month, we will launch the public phase of Project Acacia, which will explore opportunities to improve the efficiency, transparency and resilience of wholesale markets through tokenization and new payments infrastructure.”
The CBA said last year that an Australian CBDC was likely “several years away” because Australia’s payments system already met user needs and digital currency efforts in most developed countries were “still at an exploratory stage.”
The central bank's latest report came shortly after a new study published this week revealed that 134 countries are considering CBDCs. These countries represent 98% of the global economy, according to the think tank's findings. Atlantic Council.
The latest data shows that all G20 nations are considering CBDCs, with 44 countries piloting digital currencies, up from 36 by 2023. The think tank's report noted that three countries have launched CBDCs – the Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria – and two – Ecuador and Senegal – have considered but abandoned digital currencies.
Josh Lipsky of the council told Reuters, “While some have noted low or no adoption in countries that have introduced CBDCs, we have seen greater adoption in recent months,” predicting that the People's Bank of China will be “close to full adoption within a year.”
