Mastercard Successfully Demonstrates Tokenized CBDCs Across Different Blockchains

This proof of concept was built in partnership with Cuscal and Mintable as part of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre’s (DFCRC) CBDC pilot project. The goal of the pilot was to explore use cases of a CBDC in Australia.

The pilot demonstration showcased a CBDC holder executing a purchase of an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. The pilot CBDC amount was “locked” on RBA’s CBDC platform, and then an equal amount of wrapped CBDC tokens was minted on Ethereum. This technology is an element of Mastercard’s Multi Token Network initiative, currently in beta, which is part of the company's initiative to explore the potential of blockchain technology to introduce new efficiencies and capabilities to its existing network of financial services.

“As demonstrated in this project, the solutions that play a key role in Multi Token Network have the potential to enable new levels of interoperability between blockchains in a safe and secure manner. By enabling people to easily move digital currencies on-demand via Mastercard’s trusted network, more consumers could participate in crypto ecosystems using reputable and reliable forms of money while enjoying the benefits that these currencies offer such as programmability, transparency, and compliance,” said Richard Wormald, division president, Australasia at Mastercard.