AUDN: NAB Tests FX Transfers on Ethereum Blockchain
These transfers will target NAB’s subsidiaries in Japan, New Zealand, Europe, Singapore, the United States, and Britain.
This represents a significant stride toward achieving instant and cost-effective cross-border payments, departing from the current SWIFT system.
In January, NAB introduced its stablecoin, AUDN, backed one-to-one with Australian fiat money held in trust by the bank. This follows a similar product launch by ANZ, A$DC, nine months earlier.
More details on that are available here.
Drew Bradford, the Executive General Manager of Markets at NAB, stated that the bank is dedicated to investing in the development of Australia’s digital asset ecosystem, prioritizing safety, simplicity, and security.
“We are committed to pursuing the right digital asset opportunities with clear customer benefits. Bringing multi-currency stablecoins to market demonstrates NAB’s focus on simplifying international banking protocols to increase speed and transparency while lowering costs and reducing complexity for customers,” Mr. Bradford said.
“We believe that elements of the future of finance will be blockchain enabled, and we’re already witnessing rapid change in the tokenization market. The stringent governance frameworks we have in place ensure we can support the creation of a safe and reliable digital financial system.”
NAB’s aspiration to establish itself as a key player in the digital assets space will heavily depend on AUDN, a stablecoin fully backed one-to-one by the Australian dollar and managed as a liability of the bank. By conducting transactions on a public, permissionless layer-one blockchain, NAB aims to enhance transparency, accessibility, and scalability.
To realize this vision, NAB has partnered with Blockfold and Fireblocks, two leading technology providers, to develop and implement its stablecoin. This collaboration will involve leveraging their expertise to create smart contracts, securely mint and burn the stablecoin, and manage direct custody of digital assets using blockchain technology.
Fireblocks CEO and Co-founder, Michael Shaulov, said: “Australia continues to be a global torchbearer for tokenization in financial services, with NAB leading the charge in the world’s first use case of a large financial institution leveraging a public blockchain for cross-border payment rails. NAB’s successful trade execution marks the beginning of the evolution of financial services from Web2 to Web3, underpinned by blockchain technology as well as strong governance and risk management”.
BlockFold CEO and Co-founder, Francois Schonken, said: “NAB’s multi-currency cross-border settlement execution on a public blockchain is exhilarating. This trade marks the first cross-border multi-currency exchange executed by a regulated large financial institution (NAB) backed stablecoin. The NAB eco-system of stablecoins puts in place cross-border payment rails that unlock tokenization potential for both real world assets and financial products”.
Remarkable strides in the Australian cryptocurrency industry.
