The National Australia Bank completed the stablecoin transaction with its self-issued AUDN stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) released a statement stating a successful cross-border stablecoin transaction, which it claimed, was the world’s first on a layer 1 public blockchain by a prominent financial institution. It utilized smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, using it for seven major currencies of the world. NAB has said it saw the potential of reducing transaction times to minutes, which would help their clients by significantly increasing speed and efficiency in cross-border transactions.
“We believe that elements of the future of finance will be blockchain enabled and we’re already witnessing rapid change in the tokenisation market. The stringent governance frameworks we have in place ensures we can support the creation of a safe and reliable digital financial system,” said the Executive General Manager of the National Australia Bank, Drew Bradford. He said NAB’s aim was to reduce costs and complexity for its users while increasing transparency and speed. Bradford also voiced his belief in a blockchain-enabled future.
NAB had collaborated with Fireblocks and BlockFold services for the pilot. Its stablecoin, AUDN, which is backed by the Australian dollar, would be used for all its blockchain-related activities in the future. CEOs of both Fireblocks and BlockFold welcomed NAB’s initiative and also praised Australia’s leading initiatives in the past to emerge as a leading country in the blockchain space.
Australia has also strongly advocated for crypto legislation and may implement the same by the beginning of 2024. Though it has been delayed for some time, the country looks set to implement a slew of blockchain-friendly decisions in the coming months.