Australia is accelerating its move into digital currency, announcing on Monday that in mid-2023 it will be on schedule to unveil its first central bank digital currency (CBDC), called is ‘eAUD’. Back in July, the country began piloting its first CBDC using its own version of Ethereum, working closely with the Digital Finance Collaborative Research Center. Australia’s central bank has now released a whitepaper that says the country’s CBDC pilot will be completed by mid-2023.
The aim is to “explore innovative use cases and business models” for CBDCs, The country’s white paper says emphasizes that technological research is not the goal.
The eAUD platform uses a licensed version of Ethereum called Quorum, developed by Digital Finance CRC and is run by a central bank. However, the use cases that will interface with the eAUD platform can leverage blockchain networks, public or private, or conventional technologies.
Industry participants were asked to submit any use case ideas for the eAUD, and “a limited number of these use cases will be selected to operate in the future.” CBDC pilot project infrastructure. “
An invitation is required to participate in the trial and only Australian registered legal entities and Australian residents who have passed KYC measures are allowed to participate in the trial and hold the eAUD.
“The project is looking to facilitate ideas and innovation across use cases, and in turn use those results to better understand the case for the introduction of CBDCs in Australia,” the whitepaper said. , and added that it expects industry participants such as financial institutions, fintech companies and established businesses to contribute to the research.
The white paper also highlights the fact that use cases must comply with the law, and participants are expected to consult the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in that regard. . It has been mentioned that some legal exemptions may be allowed entirely for pilots.
Selected use cases will be announced on December 31 before the CBDC pilot is scheduled to run from January to April 2023.
The white paper also states that testing does not mean that the RBA will necessarily issue a CBDC.
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