RBA Opens Door to Tokenised Assets and Private Money Through New RITS Consultation

Sonal Goyal

09 September 2026 06:07 PM AEST

RBA Opens Door to Tokenised Assets and Private Money Through New RITS Consultation

Image Source: Shutterstock

You are reading a free article with opinions that may differ from the recommendation given by Kalkine in its paid research reports. Become a Kalkine member today to get access to our research reports, in-depth technical and fundamental research. Learn more

Start Your Free Trial Now!

The Reserve Bank is asking the financial industry a foundational question: how should the plumbing that settles Australia's large-value payments evolve for a tokenised world? On 3 September 2026, alongside a broader update on the future of money, the Central Bank released an industry consultation on how its core settlement infrastructure, the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System, or RITS, can be adapted to support a tokenised financial system. The consultation runs to the end of October 2026 and will feed into a multi-year RITS modernisation strategy, described as a fundamental rethink of the real-time gross settlement system. Where the Reserve Bank's wider tokenisation agenda paints the big picture, this consultation is about the specific, technical machinery, and about the precise kinds of digital money and Assets that machinery must one day handle.

What the RBA Said

The consultation was one of three items the Reserve Bank released on 3 September 2026, set out in its media release on the RITS consultation and retail CBDC update. The other two were a joint paper with the Treasury on the case for a retail central bank Digital currency and a dedicated web page tracking ten post-Project Acacia roadmap initiatives.

The RITS consultation itself focuses on how the Reserve Bank's core settlement infrastructure can be adapted to support tokenised assets and tokenised private money. It is explicitly framed as the input to a multi-year RITS modernisation strategy, which the Reserve Bank characterises as a fundamental rethink of the real-time gross settlement system rather than an incremental upgrade.

Assistant Governor (Financial System) Brad Jones, speaking at Intersekt 2026 on the same day, situated the consultation within the two-tier monetary system the Reserve Bank favours. In that model, the central bank provides the foundational layer of stability, commercial bank deposits sit on top, and private industry innovates on the core infrastructure. He noted that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is increasingly engaged on the tokenisation of commercial bank deposits, directly relevant to the "tokenised private money" the consultation addresses.

The Key Numbers

Consultation closes: end-October 2026. Project Acacia: 57 participants, 20 use cases. Tokenisation benefit estimate: ~A$24bn/year. 50–80% of Australian fixed income held offshore.

What Could Happen Next

The immediate step is the consultation period, which closes at the end of October 2026. Industry submissions will then inform the multi-year RITS modernisation strategy.

Several adjacent workstreams will shape the outcome. The Treasury is examining a tokenised government bond, a concrete example of a tokenised asset that would need somewhere to settle. The deposit-token working group is advancing work on tokenised private money. Cross-border payments have been named a priority, reflecting attention from the G20 and the Payments System Board. The Reserve Bank has also flagged a review of its Exchange Settlement Account access policy following government licensing reforms, which could determine which institutions connect to a modernised settlement system.

Because the strategy is explicitly multi-year, the practical changes to RITS will unfold over time rather than arriving at once. The end-October deadline is the near-term milestone that sets the direction.

Conclusion

The RITS consultation is the technical engine room of the Reserve Bank's future-of-money agenda. Open until the end of October 2026, it asks how Australia's real-time gross settlement system should be adapted to support tokenised assets and tokenised private money, feeding a multi-year modernisation strategy that amounts to a fundamental rethink of the system. The distinctions matter: RITS today settles transactions in wholesale central bank money; the consultation is about extending it to work with tokenised assets and privately-issued tokenised money, both separate from a retail CBDC and from a wholesale CBDC. With a tokenised government bond under study and strong industry interest, the groundwork for tokenised settlement in Australia is now formally underway.

FAQs

Q:What is RITS and why is it being reviewed?

A:RITS (Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System) is Australia's real-time gross settlement system; the RBA is consulting on adapting it to settle tokenised assets and private tokenised money.

Q:What is the difference between tokenised private money and a CBDC?

A:Tokenised private money is issued by commercial institutions (e.g., tokenised bank deposits); a CBDC is issued by the central bank itself — the RBA is not pursuing the latter for retail use.

Q:What does atomic settlement mean?

A:Atomic settlement means a tokenised asset and the money paying for it change hands simultaneously, eliminating the gap between trade and settlement and reducing counterparty risk.

Q:When will the RITS modernisation changes take effect?

A:This is a multi-year strategy; the October 2026 consultation sets the direction, but practical changes to RITS will unfold over several years.

Download Free Report – Explore 3 Stock Ideas & Industry Insights

Unlock 3 stock ideas and key industry insights in our free report. This information is general in nature and does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is not financial advice.

All investments involve risk—consider independent advice before making any investment decisions.

View 3 Research Reports

Disclaimer:

This article (“Article”) has been prepared by Kalkine Pty Limited (ABN 34 154 808 312) (Australian financial services licence number 425376) (“Kalkine”) and its related bodies corporate who are authorised to provide general financial product advice. Kalkine.com.au and its associated pages are published by Kalkine.

Any information/advice provided in this article is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should therefore consider whether the information is appropriate for your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting upon it.

There may be a Product Disclosure Statement, Information Memorandum or other offer document (“Offer Document”) for the securities or other financial products referred to in Kalkine articles. You should obtain a copy of the Offer Document and consider it before making any decision about whether to acquire the security or financial product.

Kalkine strongly recommends that you seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice) before acting on any advice/information in this Article or on the Kalkine website. Not all investments are appropriate for all people.

The information in this Article and on Kalkine website has been prepared from a wide variety of sources, which Kalkine, to the best of its knowledge and belief, considers accurate. Kalkine has made every effort to ensure the reliability of the information contained in its articles (including this Article), newsletters and websites. All information represents our views at the date of publication and may change without notice.

The information in this Article does not constitute an offer to sell securities or other financial products or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities or other financial products.

Kalkine does not issue, sell or deal in any financial products.

This Article may contain information on past performance of particular investments. Please note past performance is neither an indicator nor a guarantee of future performance.

To the extent permitted by law, and excluding any dishonesty or gross negligence by Kalkine, Kalkine disclaims and excludes all liability for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential loss or damage arising from the use of or reliance on this Article, the Kalkine website and any information published on the Kalkine website without any warranties or representations by Kalkine to you. To the extent the law prohibits or limits this exclusion, Kalkine limits its liability to the resupply of services.

Please also read our Terms & Conditions and Financial Services Guide for further information.

Employees and/or associates of Kalkine and its related entities may hold interests in the securities or other financial products covered in this Article or on the Kalkine website. Any such employees and associates are required to comply with certain safeguards, procedures and disclosures as required by law.

Some of the images/music that may be used in the Article are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used in the Article unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used in the Article are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated or was found to be necessary.

Kalkine Media Pty Ltd, an affiliate of Kalkine Pty Ltd, may have received, or be entitled to receive, financial consideration in connection with providing information about certain entity(s) covered on its website.