The huge potential and talent of blockchain, in addition to stablecoins, have resulted within the growing awareness of the technology, and its continuous adoption attracts big firms and entities to put it to use. The newest notable adopter of blockchain technology is now the National Australia Bank (NAB).
Based on a report published by Australian Financial Review on January 19, citing sources, NAB, one among the foremost banks in Australia, will likely be introducing a fully backed stablecoin called AUDN that may boost the digital economy in Australia and permit business customers to settle transactions in Australian dollars on the blockchain.
Australia Draws Blockchain Technology Closer
As firms have began to acknowledge the blockchain as a part of the evolving side of technology, many products have been built on the blockchain. The NAB stablecoin isn’t an exception, because it is alleged to be built on the Ethereum network.
NAB chief innovation officer Howard Silby noted, “We actually consider there are elements of blockchain technology that may form a part of the long run of finance. That continues to be the source of some debate. But actually, from our viewpoint, we see blockchain has the potential to deliver instantaneous, transparent, inclusive financial outcomes.”
The NAB stablecoin is backed one-to-one with Australian fiat. Following its minting on the Ethereum blockchain in December last yr, AUDN is slated for launch mid-year for several use cases, including the execution of transactions, trading of carbon credits, and sending money overseas.
Other than these listed use cases, Silby added that the NAB stablecoins is also utilized in repurchase agreements, a type of short-term finance in bond markets, and for “green deposits,” which link customer savings to green loans. Nevertheless, the essential focus could be to make use of the AUDN stablecoin as a settlement token.
AUDN Stablecoin To Undergo Thorough Testing
Though the launch for the NAB stablecoin has already been put into place because it was minted, the AUDN is not going to be available to customers for a minimum of three months. Silby said the AUDN can’t be available for more widespread use yet as it’ll should undergo a correct internal testing route which is predicted to begin “shortly.”
“We’ll shortly start testing our stablecoin with internal transactions before we glance to expand the use cases working closely with the needs of our corporate clients,” said Silby. Adding that conversations with regulators on AUDN had been “constructive.”
With the federal government recommending it will regulate crypto custodians as a part of its regulatory reforms, Silby believes NAB has a giant role to play “within the protected storage of digital assets” for institutional and high net-worth customers, suggesting it could turn out to be licensed under any recent regime.
Related Reading: Stablecoin Backed By Gold To Be Reportedly Launched By Russia And Iran
Notably, after minting the AUDN stablecoin in December last yr on the Ethereum blockchain, the NAB “burned” the coin to remove it from circulation. Currently, the AUDN doesn’t float in crypto markets but is created for specific use cases.
No matter the intense market conditions, other major Australian banks are also seen transitioning right into a stablecoin economy. ANZ already accomplished its own stablecoin transaction in an Australian first, with a cryptocurrency called A$DC.
Overall the cryptocurrency market has to this point experienced a mini bull run over the past week, increasing the worldwide cryptocurrency market capitalization by greater than 10% from the $800 billion zone seen late last yr to exceed $1 trillion early this week.
Featured image from BlockchainReporter, chart from TradingView