No, Australia is not introducing a digital currency in July

^{By Eiddwen Jeffery}

An online video warning that Australia is going cashless with the introduction of a digital currency misrepresents a Reserve Bank research project, which is still in the pilot phase. 

The video, which has received 21,000 views on Facebook, has been shared on multiple social media platforms by an online account called Beat the Reset. The account, flagged as an “investing service”, features financial commentary by the account creator who describes himself as a precious metals investor.

In the video, the commentator refers to a Reserve Bank project that is looking into possible uses of a digital currency, known as Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). He tells his audiences: "Australia finishes its central bank digital trial in April 2023” adding that “on the first of July 2023, they will introduce the central bank digital bank currency stablecoin as a parallel currency to the Australian dollar”. 

“Eventually we will have a full central bank digital currency and the Australian dollar will disappear and be replaced with a derivative which will be a stablecoin,” he adds, urging his audience to get “out of the system” and into “precious metals”. 

But the claim of an impending digital currency launch is false. The Reserve Bank’s digital currency research project is still in its pilot phase and has not resulted in any policy. A spokesperson from the RBA told RMIT FactLab, at the time of publishing, that “there has been no decision or announcement made about introducing a CBDC in Australia”.

CBDCs are a proposed digital form of currency that would be issued by a country’s central bank and act as a legal form of tender exchanged at parity with other forms of money.   

Differing from other types of digital cryptocurrency, including stablecoins, the CBDCs are a centralised state-regulated form of digital currency with a value tied to national currency. 

In Australia, the research project into CBDCs is a joint collaboration between the Reserve Bank  and Sydney-based finance institute, the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC). The research project was announced in July 2022 and aims to explore the feasibility and design for a Central Bank Digital Currency. 

The pilot study does not seek to replace physical cash, stating in its explanatory paper “RBA’s research into CBDC does not reflect any intention to discontinue access to physical cash. The RBA is committed to ensuring Australians continue to have good access to physical cash for as long as people need or want to use it.” 

As part of the project the Reserve Bank and DFCRC have developed a pilot CBDC platform called “eAUD' which is currently being user-tested by industry partners. The pilot CBDC is not available to the general public. 

The pilot has been extended past its initial end date of April and is now expected to finish mid-year, the RBA spokesperson said. 

Once the pilot is complete, participants will be invited to provide a submission suggesting future uses for the digital currency. 

The findings from the pilot are expected to be published mid-year. 

The RBA spokesperson told FactLab: “It is important to note that the pilot CBDC project is focused on exploring potential use cases for a CBDC, and other issues relevant to considering the case for a CBDC are yet to be explored.”

The creator of the Facebook video promotes the sale of precious metals on his own website.