SYDNEY, April 24, 2026, 07:16 AEST
National Australia Bank on Friday reported it has trialed issuing and settling a tokenised term deposit using stablecoins, as part of Project Acacia, the digital money initiative with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre. According to the bank, the proof-of-concept was carried out alongside Imperium Markets, utilizing a marketplace that holds a license from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The timing stands out. Parliament’s records confirm the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 was signed into law on April 8, while the RBA announced last month that it plans to release the final Project Acacia report later in April. That means NAB’s update lands just as the regulatory landscape sharpens—and with the central bank about to set its next course for wholesale, institution-to-institution tokenised markets.
NAB said it tested a tokenised term deposit—a digital version of a fixed-term bank deposit—paired with a stablecoin acting as the money side of the transaction. The bank also joined a Deposit Token Working Group, which is looking into whether a tokenised claim on a bank qualifies as a deposit under Australian law.
Jonathan Adams, executive for enterprise payments and digital assets at NAB, said the bank is focused on customer direction. Meanwhile, Cathryn Carver, who oversees corporate and institutional banking, pointed to potential gains from new digital-asset tools—efficiency, better user experience—but flagged the need to weigh innovation against safeguards for consumers and the broader system’s stability.
NAB isn’t the only player here. CommBank has signed on to Project Acacia, focusing on digital currencies and tokenised collateral within Australia’s A$350 billion repo market—a crucial channel for short-term funds. Over at ANZ, their involvement with Acacia has centered on tokenised bonds and trade payables. The RBA also tapped Westpac as one of the lead participants.
The central bank isn’t standing still. In a March address, RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the conversation around tokenisation in Australia had shifted—the focus now is “how, not whether” it will happen. During a Q&A that same day, Jones credited Acacia with raising bank involvement from what he called a low base, and confirmed the Deposit Token Working Group will keep going and broaden its work after the project wraps up. Reserve Bank of Australia
Still, some stubborn obstacles remain. According to the RBA, legal gray areas, clunky coordination, and interoperability headaches have held back tokenised markets in Australia. More needs to be ironed out—think smart contracts, the interplay between stablecoins, deposit tokens, and current settlement infrastructure. NAB echoed these concerns, warning that the tech introduces fresh risks and challenges.
Imperium Markets chair Rod Lewis said the tests highlighted just how fast capital can flow with digitized infrastructure. “What would have taken days, took minutes,” he noted. NAB News
But there’s still a significant gap from running a controlled pilot to reaching widespread commercial rollout. The RBA has signaled plans for a new sandbox dedicated to wholesale-market trials, is looking into central bank settlement account access, and is ramping up work on deposit tokens—a process that includes the upcoming Acacia report, expected later this month. NAB’s announcement, though, remains squarely in pilot territory for now.
