RBA Quantifies Tokenization Payoff, Backs Infrastructure Push
SYDNEY, March 26, 2026 — The Reserve Bank of Australia has put a concrete number on tokenization's potential, estimating AUD 24 billion in annual gains from tokenizing real-world assets in wholesale markets. This comes after the Project Acacia pilot, a live experiment, not a think-tank projection.
Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the experiment shows tokenization has a future, and the question now is how to build the system that makes it work. 'The question is no longer whether tokenization has a future, but how,' Jones said during a briefing.
Ahead of the next phase, observers note that the australia central bank backs tokenization as a policy priority, signaling a shift from curiosity to infrastructure.
What Project Acacia Tested
The pilot ran 20 distinct use cases across government bonds, repos, bank term deposits, investment funds, and trade payables. Settlements used stablecoins, deposit tokens, wholesale CBDC, and exchange settlement accounts.
- Asset classes include government bonds, repos, bank term deposits, trade payables, mining royalties, and more.
- Participants included banks, custodians, fintechs, fund managers, stablecoin issuers, and infrastructure operators.
- Economic model projected AUD 24B in annual gains with upside if new tokenized markets emerge.
Jones noted this was not a simulation. It was live testing with real assets, giving policymakers a clearer picture of benefits and risks.
Policy Shift: From Pilot to Market Infrastructure
The RBA will collaborate with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre to launch a digital financial market infrastructure (DFMI) sandbox. The aim is to move from pilot experiments into commercial-stage testing and eventually broader adoption.
Market Implications and Reactions
Markets welcomed the move, seeing tokenization as a pathway to faster settlement, lower costs, and greater liquidity in wholesale markets. Banks and fintechs are lining up to participate in the DFMI sandbox, eager to test settlement rails that can scale across asset classes.
Observers caution that legal clarity and risk controls remain essential, especially around custody, token standards, and cross-border flows. Still, the RBA's findings bolster a narrative that the australia central bank backs a practical, system-wide upgrade rather than a theoretical shift.
What This Means for Investors and Markets
For investors, the news adds a potential new layer to asset trading and settlement. If the DFMI sandbox meets milestones, institutions could push more business onto tokenized rails, reducing settlement times and operational risk.
- Projected annual gains: AUD 24 billion from real-world asset tokenization.
- Pilot scope: 20 use cases across multiple asset classes.
- Next step: Digital market infrastructure sandbox to test commercialization readiness.
Key Takeaways
- The australia central bank backs tokenization as a core infrastructure project, moving from research toward production.
- Project Acacia demonstrated practical settlement across stablecoins, tokens, and CBDCs in a live environment.
- Policy makers expect downstream benefits for liquidity, cost efficiency, and risk management in wholesale markets.
Discussion