- The NAB announced the release date of its stablecoin.
- This news makes it the second of the big four Australian banks to create a nationwide stablecoin.
- Australia is recognized as one of the leading countries to adopt CBDCs.
The National Australian Bank (NAB) has become the second bank among the “big four” Australian banks to mint its stablecoin in the country, which is set to be released in mid-2023.
According to Australian Financial Review (AFR), the NAB has created its stablecoin called AUDN. NAB aims to enable its business clients to finalize transactions on blockchain technology in real time by utilizing the Australian dollar-pegged stablecoin.
The stablecoin is set to perform multiple use cases, which include international money transactions, carbon credit trading, and repurchase agreements. The AUDN will be launched in the middle of 2023 on the Ethereum and Algorand smart contract blockchain.
The NAB believes that blockchain technology is the future hence building a stablecoin on the technology will play an essential part in the next evolution of finance.
“We see blockchain technology can deliver quick, inclusive, transparent financial outcomes,” said Howard Silby, NAB’s chief innovation officer.
Using AUDN in real-time transactions and international remittances could become an opportunity for users to forgo the SWIFT payment network, which is expensive and much slower.
The National Australian Bank’s announcement of its AUDN stablecoin comes into light almost a year after its rival, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), announced its plans to release 30 million tokens of its stablecoin (A$DC). The ANZ stablecoin also shares similar attributes to NAB’s AUDN in that it can be used for carbon trading and cross-border remittances.
The two of the Australian big four banks, NAB and ANZ, had once planned on collaborating with the other two “big four” banks (Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia) in creating a national stablecoin that the AUD would support.
Unfortunately, this alliance was shelved due to the competition between the banks, along with each bank being in different phases with their adoption and adaptation of blockchain technology.
The managing director of Kraken, an Australian crypto exchange, Jonathan Miller, mentioned that the adoption of stablecoins by two of the most significant four Australian banks is “an explicit recognition” of the potential to develop essential efficiencies in the financial sector, such as atomic swaps, instantaneous settlements, and smart contracts.
“We expect this trend to continue, inevitably evolving to include the adoption of numerous tokens and cryptocurrencies for the growing use cases in the Australian economy,” he expressed.
Australia pushes for its CBDC
Australia is ahead of most countries in its evolution and adoption of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). In September 2022, the Australian central bank announced through a whitepaper that the pilot completion of its CBDC would likely be around mid-2023.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, its initial strategy is to study the use case for a CBDC in the country and experiment with it using Quorum, a private version of Ethereum.
“Over the past few years, the RBA has been exploring whether there is a role for a CBDC in Australia in the contact of RBA’s responsibilities for issuing the currency and overseeing the development of the payments system,” the RBA whitepaper reads.
Australia creates Token Mapping as a framework for crypto regulation
In August 2022, Australia’s government moved to review how digital assets would be managed, update its practices and protect its users. The Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, announced that although the country was witnessing a crypto revolution, it still lacked regulation.
“Regulation is struggling to keep pace and adapt with the crypto asset sector,” Jim Chalmers announced.
Token Mapping involves revealing the attributes of all crypto asset tokens in Australia, such as charting the kind of crypto asset and any underlying codes.
The announcement of the National Australian Bank (NAB), one of the biggest four banks in Australia, is seen as a positive step forward in adopting blockchain technology by creating a national stablecoin.
In his statement, Howard Silby mentioned that the bank was planning to offer stablecoins in various currencies to which the bank is licensed. With its purpose set for carbon trading, cross-border transactions, and more, the AUDN is expected to perform well and in tandem with the RBA’s CBDC.
Conclusion
The recent announcement of NAB made it the second of the big four banks in Australia to create its dollar-pegged stablecoin. There are multiple use cases of the AUDN stablecoins, which are set to be released in mid-2023.
