National Bank of Australia Floats Country’s Second Stablecoin

After the renowned Australia and New Zealand Banking Group also known as ANZ, National Australia Bank (NAB) has followed suit in minting its Australian dollar-pegged stablecoin dubbed AUDN. The NAB is making plans to launch the fully backed stablecoin on the Ethereum (ETH) network and the Algorand blockchain which is equally similar to the former ecosystem. 

AUDN is designed to be backed one-to-one with the Australian dollars and is scheduled to be rolled out in the middle of this year. This stablecoin will be held in the custody of NAB according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) report. The AUDN is targeted at promoting customers’ transactions on the blockchain in real-time with the Australian fiat. 

Ultimately, customers can use the stablecoin as a settlement token between several parties involved in a transaction.

Some other applications of the stablecoin are “carbon credit trading, overseas money transfers, and repurchase agreements,” based on a statement by Howard Silby, the Chief Innovation Officer of NAB. This may usher in the atomic settlement which the NAB plans to introduce in certain markets.

Australian Banks’ Pursuit to Launch Stablecoin

Four other banks have attempted to launch their stablecoin but were unable to complete them. According to AFR, their attempts failed because they were at different stages in their crypto movement and due to competition problems. However, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group succeeded in the first quarter of 2022.

ANZ minted an Australian dollar (AUD) pegged stablecoin called “A$DC,” while working with local regulators like AUSTRAC and APRA to get the program approved by the appropriate authorities. The stablecoin was launched on the ETH network in agreement with its institutional partner Victor Smorgon Group. To ensure a smooth launch, the bank teamed up with several industry heavyweights.

The infrastructure was provided by global crypto custodian Fireblocks while the smart contracts were audited by OpenZepplin, a library of vetted blockchain applications. To guarantee that the stablecoin complies with all regulatory requirements, blockchain analytic firm Chainalysis agreed to provide its services. 

Similarly, the central bank of Australia called the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has shared its plans to roll out a one-year research program for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).