National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s ‘big four’ banks, has completed the first-ever cross-border stablecoin transfer by a major financial institution on a layer 1 public blockchain. In a recent announcement, NAB said the intra-bank transaction was executed using its Australian dollar-backed stablecoin dubbed “AUDN.”
NAB Executes Stablecoin Transfer on Ethereum
According to the bank, the transaction was conducted on the Ethereum blockchain and involved the deployment of stablecoin smart contracts for seven major global currencies, including the Australian, New Zealand, Singapore, and US dollars, Euro, Yen, and Pound Sterling.
The trial was completed with blockchain tokenization platform Blackfold and digital asset custody company Fireblocks, who helped build the smart contracts to securely mint and burn the stablecoin, as well as manage direct custody of the digital assets on the public blockchain.
A Faster Experience
The bank said the pilot’s success showed the blockchain’s potential to reduce cross-border transactions from taking days to minutes and brings “NAB one step closer to enabling clients who operate in multiple jurisdictions and currencies a simpler and faster experience.”
Commenting on the development, NAB Executive General Manager of Markets, Drew Bradford, said the development aligns with the bank’s ambition to offer its clients “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,” he added.
Bradford also stated that NAB believes that “elements of the future of finance” will be blockchain-enabled as the world is already experiencing a rapid change in the tokenization market.
NAB said its stablecoin, AUDN, which is fully backed by the Australian dollar one-for-one and managed as a liability of the bank will be the “cornerstone” for NAB’s ambitions in the digital asset space. The Melbourne-based bank noted that it expects to be supporting select corporate and institutional clients to transact using digital assets by the end of this year.
