The National Australia Bank (NAB) claimed that it was the initial financial institution to accomplish this on a layer-one public blockchain this morning after completing an intra-bank cross-border trade using its self-issued stablecoins. By the end of 2023, it intends to roll out a service for some institutional and business clients.
On the open, permissionless Ethereum blockchain, NAB carried out the test transaction, using stablecoin decentralized applications for seven important world currencies. The advantage is a faster cross-border transaction process. Despite this, many people are seeking layer 2 alternatives for cost reduction because Ethereum is not the most economical for tiny transactions.
National Australia Bank Makes First Transaction
Blackfold, a blockchain tokenization company, and Fireblocks, a custody technology company, were involved in the trial’s execution. Together, they helped create the smart contracts, safely issue the stablecoin, and oversee direct possession of the cryptocurrency on the blockchain network.
Recently, National Australia Bank has also been considering a “green” stablecoin to serve as a bridge between investors and businesses seeking to fund sustainable solutions. The bank announced its intention to use blockchain to track sustainable agricultural practices earlier this year, along with the development of a stablecoin for the settlement of carbon credits.
Nine months ago, competitor bank Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) disclosed the availability of 30 million tokens of its own stablecoin called A$DC, which is also utilized for international trading and settlements. This statement by NAB comes shortly after that news. In the past, the National Australia Bank and ANZ had intended to collaborate with two of Australia’s “Big 4” elite banks to jointly develop a national stablecoin guaranteed by the Australian dollar. This plan, however, was unsuccessful since some institutions were at a different point in their adoption strategies and did not have stablecoin adoption on their roadmaps at this time.
