<p>The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is exploring the potential use of a blockchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a wholesale form.</p> <p>The Australian central bank <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2020/mr-20-27.html">said</a> in announcement on Monday that the project is a collaborative one with help from Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual and Ethereum start-up ConsenSys, which is part of the RBA's continuous search on wholesale CBDC.</p> <p>"The project will involve the development of a proof-of-concept (POC) for the issuance of a tokenized form of CBDC that can be used by wholesale market participants for the funding, settlement and repayment of a tokenized syndicated loan on an Ethereum-based DLT platform," the RBA said in the announcement.</p> <p>"While the case for the use of a CBDC in these markets remains an open question, 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," said the RBA's assistant governor Michele Bullock.</p> <p>The central bank expects the project to be completed around the year end with an anticipation to publish their main findings during the first half of next year.</p>