Mastercard has completed a central bank digital currency pilot with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre. 

The project tested how authorized parties, who have gone through know-your-customer protocols, could hold, use and redeem CBDCs. In addition, the project tested how a holder could purchase an Ethereum-based NFT by locking the pilot CBDC and minting an equivalent amount of Ethereum-based wrapped coins, according to a Mastercard statement.

“As the digital economy continues to mature, Mastercard has seen demand from consumers to participate in commerce across multiple blockchains, including public blockchains,” Mastercard's Australasia division president Richard Wormald said in a statement. "This technology not only has the potential …