The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published a report into its two-year research project into wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that emphasized the benefits of digitizing and autonomizing manual, paper-based banking processes using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The report marks the conclusion of the two-year project named “Project Atom” that was conducted in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB), Perpetual, and ConsenSys, along with additional input from King & Wood Mallesons.

Commenting on Project Atom, RBA’s assistant governor (Financial System) Michele Bullock noted that it “demonstrated the potential for a wholesale CBDC and asset tokenization to improve efficiency, risk management and innovation in wholesale financial market transactions.”

A wholesale CBDC refers to a central bank issued digital currency that is designed for the settlement of interbank transfers and transactions between financial institutions, as opposed to a retail CBDC that is intended for public use.

The CBDC research was published on Dec. 8, the same day Treasurer and Deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg unveiled an ambitious “payments and crypto reform plan” for fintech and crypto regulation in Australia. The government has indicated it is in favor of at least six crypto reform proposals recommended by a Senate Committee, and is investigating others.

Too slow? We’re on a rocket ship ride. Hold on tight. https://t.co/meuqgKjp3h

— Steve Vallas (@stevevallas) December 8, 2021

The project consisted of a…