SYDNEY, April 24, 2026, 07:16 AEST
National Australia Bank on Friday reported it had trialed both issuance and maturity of a tokenised term deposit using stablecoins during Project Acacia, a digital currency initiative involving the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre. The bank said it carried out these proof-of-concept deals with Imperium Markets, operating on a marketplace regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The timing stands out. Parliament documents confirm the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 cleared assent on April 8. Then, just last month, the RBA flagged that it would release the final Project Acacia report in late April. NAB’s update lands right as the legal environment firms up and the central bank moves toward laying out its next steps on wholesale tokenised markets between institutions.
NAB said it ran the test using a tokenised term deposit—a digital stand-in for a standard fixed-term deposit—pairing it with a stablecoin that acted as the settlement currency. The bank also joined a Deposit Token Working Group, which is looking at whether a tokenised bank claim fits the legal definition of a deposit in Australia.
Jonathan Adams, executive for enterprise payments and digital assets at NAB, said the bank is letting customers steer its approach. Group executive Cathryn Carver pointed to potential efficiency gains and better user experience from new digital-asset tools, but flagged a need to keep consumer protection and system stability in mind.
NAB isn’t the only bank in the mix. CommBank jumped in on Project Acacia, looking at digital currencies and tokenised collateral inside Australia’s A$350 billion repo market—a crucial channel for short-term funding. ANZ, for its part, said its Acacia work involved tokenised trade payables and bonds. Westpac also made the RBA’s list of top participants.
The central bank isn’t sitting this one out. Back in March, RBA Assistant Governor Brad Jones called tokenisation inevitable for Australia’s financial system—“how, not whether” it rolls out, as he put it in a speech. That same day during a Q&A, Jones pointed to Acacia’s role in jumpstarting bank engagement, and noted the Deposit Token Working Group would keep going and broaden its scope after the project wraps. Reserve Bank of Australia
Still, big hurdles remain. The RBA points to legal ambiguity, coordination gaps, and interoperability issues as key drags on tokenised markets in Australia. Progress has stalled over questions around smart contracts and how stablecoins, deposit tokens, and legacy settlement systems connect. NAB, for its part, flagged fresh risks and challenges linked to the technology.
Imperium Markets chair Rod Lewis said the tests highlighted just how fast capital could shift when the infrastructure turns digital. “What would have taken days, took minutes,” Lewis said. NAB News
But there’s still a significant gap between running a contained pilot and launching at scale. The RBA has signaled plans for a new wholesale-market sandbox, is reviewing how central bank settlement accounts are accessed, and is broadening its deposit-token efforts. The Acacia report lands later this month. At this stage, NAB’s disclosure remains strictly in pilot territory.
