Australia Announces eAUD Pilot Program

Australia’s central bank announced that it is preparing a CBDC (central bank digital currency) pilot program for mid-2023.

Unlike other digital currencies, CBDC is a centralized and digital version of a nation’s fiat currency, controlled by a central bank. In this case, that’s the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and eAUD – electronic Australian Dollar. For the program, RBA has partnered up with Australia’s Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center.

According to the whitepaper RBA released, the pilot program is not a guarantee of eAUD’s eventual full launch. RBA hopes that established fintech businesses and institutions will participate in investigating eAUD’s use cases, so that they get a clearer picture of whether the CBDC’s integration will lead to positive results. Either way, the rising adoption rate of digital currencies doesn’t seem to be slowing down.