The Australian central bank announced Monday it’s partnering with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual and ConsenSys to explore the possible use and implications of a wholesale form of central bank digital currency (CBDC) using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

• The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said the project will involve the development of a proof-of-concept (POC) for the issuance of a tokenized form of CBDC for use by wholesale market participants for the funding, settlement and repayment of a tokenized syndicated loan on an ethereum-based DLT platform. 
• The RBA also said the project will look into other potential programmability and automation features of a tokenized CBDC and financial assets.
• "We are aiming to explore the implications of a CBDC for efficiency, risk management and innovation in wholesale financial market transactions," Assistant Governor of the RBA (Financial System) Michele Bullock said.
• "We are pleased to be collaborating with industry partners to explore if there is a future role for a wholesale CBDC in the Australian payments system," Bullock added.
• The project is expected to be completed around the end of 2020 and a report will be issued on the project during the first half of next year, the central bank said.

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