Monday, 9 February 2026
Imperium Markets has proven that the tokenisation of assets and settlement in wholesale bank deposits, money market securities and annuities is possible following the successful completion of its Project Acacia use cases.
As part of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Digital Finance CRC’s (DFCRC) Project Acacia, Imperium Markets facilitated real-money transactions on its ASIC-licenced marketplace between top-tier banks, asset managers, payment and financial services providers.
This was an Australian first, if not global first, in regulated financial markets.
Imperium’s trial included the following participants: Cuscal; AP+; Bank of Queensland; Westpac Banking Corporation; National Australia Bank; Challenger Life; Australian Super; Colonial First State.
The use cases included a series of transactions where settlement took less than 30 minutes in total. Typically, this would take up to four days. In the real-world, that settlement time will come down to seconds.
“Imperium is thrilled to have had some of Australia’s leading market participants in our use cases for Project Acacia,” Imperium Markets Chair, Rod Lewis, said.
“I have worked in money and bond markets for more than 40 years. I have never seen capital flow this quickly through multiple transactions. What would have taken days, took minutes.
“These real-money transactions were executed in Imperium’s marketplace, atomically settled using a stable coin issued by Cuscal, secured by reserved central bank digital currency (CBDC) and tokenised onto distributed ledger technology.”
ASIC Chair Joe Longo said in his November Press Club Address in Canberra that Imperium is one example of innovation in capital markets.
“A key for us is delivering innovation which provides greater resilience to the financial system and encourages competition in central securities depository and clearing and settlement facility,” Mr Lewis said.
“Our marketplace provides access for all wholesale participants – so all the capital can be connected in a transparent environment.
“Currently, our markets are trapped by legacy systems and manual processes.
“These are our largest markets, the engine that drives our economy, and Australia deserves better. We’re currently driving a Ford Cortina when we could be driving a Ferrari F80.”
Imperium will now start to tokenise the analogue $4 trillion wholesale funding market, starting with wholesale bank deposits and enabling real time payments using the New Payments Platform. Following that, Imperium will address the debt securities markets.
“Tokenisation will deliver greater transparency and efficiency to a market that historically has been fragmented and opaque,” Mr Lewis said.
“It will remove significant settlement and operating risks, while reducing cyber and systemic risks. It will also free up capital and increase liquidity.
“Full credit should go to the Project Acacia Team, the RBA and other regulators for running this project.
“Bank and regulator bashing is a national pastime – but they have driven collaboration through Project Acacia which will see innovation deliver real change.
“The question for regulators and policy makers is: Where to now post-Project Acacia? Imperium has a strategy to tokenise these markets, and we believe there need to be greater coordination between private and public stakeholders.
“Global markets are on the cusp of mass adoption of tokenisation in money markets and fixed income. And we are at risk of becoming a second-tier financial centre if we don’t catch up.”
The transactions were executed on Imperium’s marketplace and tokenised and settled using Hedera’s Layer One Distributed Ledger Technology.
Cuscal brought experience, capability and connectivity with existing payments rails to the trial. Cuscal’s status as an ADI with an RBA exchange settlement account (ESA), enabled them to also act as the distributor of the CBDC, in this use case.
Cuscal Ltd Managing Director, Craig Kennedy, said: "Cuscal is proud to have collaborated with Imperium on Project Acacia. Both organisations share a commitment to innovation and building a stronger, safer, and more efficient financial system.
“This trial demonstrated the value of a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency to enable settlement processes via stablecoins. The pace of this trial settlement underpins the ability of this initiative to unlock new opportunities for Australia’s economy.”
Challenger, Chief Executive, Insurance, Anton Kapel, said: “Modernising core market infrastructure is critical to support the development of Australia’s retirement system at scale. Project Acacia shows that innovation done safely can strengthen resilience, unlock efficiency and improve the way capital moves through the economy. It’s a promising step forward for the broader system."
MEDIA CONTACT: Billy Briggs | 0474 697 235 | [email protected]