Australia risks missing $24bn digital finance opportunity

Binaya Dahal

Editorial Intern, Financial Newswire

4 March 2026

Australia has the potential to unlock a $24 billion annual boost by modernising digital finance but is on track to seize only a fraction of that due to a lack of targeted policy action, according to new research from the Digital Finance Co-operative Research Centre (DFCRC).

The year-long study produced in collaboration with the Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA) found upgrading financial infrastructure through tokenisation and distributed ledgers could significantly lift efficiency across markets, payments and financial assets.

It estimates annual gains of $10 billion from better-functioning markets, $8 billion from improved payments systems and $6 billion from enhanced asset functionality, with broader downstream economic benefits likely to extend further.

Co-Chief Executive and Chief Scientist at DFCRC, Talis Putnins said Australia has a significant opportunity to capitalise as digital finance becomes a foundational layer of the global financial system.

“We’ve quantified a significant $24-billion-a-year economic opportunity – equivalent to around 1% of GDP – but the window is narrowing to transform and strengthen our financial system and secure a competitive role in the rapidly evolving global digital finance ecosystem,” Putnins said.

“The challenge now is moving from pilots to real markets, with real capital, under fit-for-purpose regulatory frameworks. We need to act quickly via coordinated, innovation-enabling policy and regulatory clarity, combined with stronger collaboration across industry, regulators and government.”

As per the report, foreign exchange represents the largest single opportunity for the country at $7.2 billion a year, followed by investment funds at $2.2 billion, public debt at $2.1 billion and public equities at $2.4 billion. Other real-world assets such as commodities and real estate also have the potential to attract $0.5 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.

However, despite the long-term potential, the report projects Australia will capture only about $1 billion a year in digital finance gains by 2030 under its current settings due to regulatory uncertainty and coordination challenges.

Chief Executive at DECA, Amy-Rose Goodey said this was a pivotal moment for Australia to realise its opportunity in digital finance.

“This report provides the definitive evidence on the significant digital finance innovation opportunity in Australia that our industry and government have been asking for,” Goodey said.

The report has called to prioritise three actions for reform which includes setting up a Digital Financial Market Infrastructure sandbox, evolving the licensing framework for tokenised financial markets, and deploying foundational infrastructure, including tokenised government bonds and wholesale central bank digital currency in the DFMI sandbox.