Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Canada Pauses CBDC Plans, Australia Advances Wholesale Focus
CBDCs | Sep 19, 2024
Image: CBDC the Future of Digital Money in Australia (RBA)
Australia and Canada’s Cautious Approach to Central Bank Digital Currencies
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) recently published a paper on 'Central Bank Digital Currency and the Future of Digital Money' (48 page PDF) and is moving forward with its focus on wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Meanwhile, according to a CBC article, Canada is pausing its CBDC research due to privacy concerns and strong existing payment systems.
Australia Focuses on Wholesale
Wholesale CBDC research is progressing in Australia. A new pilot called "Project Acacia" is investigating how tokenization can improve the settlement of tokenized assets by making transactions cheaper and more efficient. However Australia is more cautious on the retail side since the country already enjoys a safe and convenient payment system. People are concerned that the government will infringe on their privacy and spy on their online activities. This seems to be part of a larger trend where countries with stronger financial systems are very hesitate to implement a retail CBDC.
Canada’s CBDC On Hold
Canada has similarly paused its retail CBDC efforts. According to a CBC article, the Bank of Canada (BoC) is putting research on hold since there isn't an immediate need for a digital loonie, the public is satisfied with the current payment system (some may argue differently), and any sort of digital loonie would ignite major privacy concerns and require significant public trust.
See: BoC Research on Digital Dollar’s Impact on Economy | Bank of Canada’s Latest on CBDC Implementation
Worth noting that similar to Australia there may be future interest in a wholesale CBDC given that the BoC has been involved in multiple international projects, such as "Project Jasper" and "Project Dunbar" to learn how wholesale CBDCs can improve cross border payments and interbank transactions by making them faster, more secure, and less dependent on intermediaries.
Privacy and Political Obstacles
While governments and central banks may see the technical benefits, the public is more concerned about threats to personal privacy and data security. Any push towards a retail CBDC is simply not popular with voters who feel there isn't a need for new government-issued digital money since people trust their bank accounts and digital transactions.
Outlook
Institutions and governments are starting to recognize the benefits of wholesale CBDCs and progress is being made.While in countries with developed payment systems like Australia and Canada, the political risks and privacy issues make retail CBDCs less desirable.
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