Reserve Bank of Australia is moving closer to supporting real-world asset tokenization as part of its future financial strategy.
New findings from Project Acacia suggest that tokenized assets could add around 24 billion Australian dollars (about $16.7 billion) to the economy each year. That’s a big number—and a sign that this technology is being taken seriously.
Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the conversation has clearly shifted. It’s no longer about if tokenization has a place in Australia’s financial system, but how to actually make it work in practice. He even pointed to industry views calling it “revolutionary.”
Project Acacia is a joint effort between the RBA and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, along with other public and private partners. The goal is to study how tokenization can improve wholesale financial markets—making them faster, more efficient, and easier to use.
According to the research, the benefits could come from quicker settlement times, better infrastructure, and broader use of digital financial tools.
To move things forward, the RBA is planning a sandbox environment. This would give companies and regulators a safe space to test tokenized assets, digital money, and new payment systems before rolling them out more widely.
The next phase will also look at how different forms of digital money—like central bank digital currencies, bank-issued tokens, and stablecoins—can work together. Another focus will be how these systems connect with existing infrastructure, including the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System.
This push comes as tokenization is gaining traction globally. Some estimates suggest the market could reach trillions of dollars by the end of the decade, and activity in real-world assets on blockchain continues to grow.
In simple terms, Australia is positioning itself early—trying to build the systems now that could shape the future of finance.
