<![CDATA[AUD Stablecoin is created by Fireblocks and ANZ]]> https://usagag.com/2022/03/24/aud-stablecoin-is-created-by-fireblocks-and-anz/ Thu, 24 Mar 2022 09:54:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://usagag.com AUD Stablecoin is created by Fireblocks and ANZ

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has collaborated with crypto custodian Fireblocks to create a stablecoin tied to the Australian dollar.

  • This is the first time a major bank has been involved in the creation of a stablecoin.
  • The bank created the stablecoin for Victor Smorgon Group, a large family office based in Australia, which plans to use it to trade on Melbourne-based exchange Zerocap.
  • "An ANZ issued Australian dollar stablecoin is a first step in enabling our customers to find a safe and secure gateway to the digital economy," said ANZ Banking Services Portfolio Lead Nigel Dobson in a press release.
  • The Victor Smorgon Group said that transferring assets to Zerocap via a stablecoin took 30 minutes compared to the usual day or two for a fiat wire transfer.
  • Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, said in a statement that he expects more banks to follow ANZ’s lead.
  • As a custodian and infrastructure provider, Fireblocks has worked with BNY Mellon, Siam Commercial Bank, Revolut, and Crypto.com
  • ANZ’s A$DC will initially be marketed toward institutional clients, with retail availability on an Australian crypto exchange coming later.
  • A$DC is currently based on the Ethereum blockchain, but ANZ plans to expand it to Hedera and other chains in the near future.

The stablecoin was delivered by ANZ for Victor Smorgon Group, a private wealth management organization that sought to invest $30 million in the crypto markets through their digital asset fund manager Zero Cap.

ANZ generated 30 million A$DC by deploying an ANZ-created Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible smart contract on the Fireblocks platform. The coins were exchanged between the parties and eventually redeemed for fiat currency.

"An ANZ issued Australian dollar stablecoin is a first and vital step in helping our consumers to discover a safe and secure entrance to the digital economy," says ANZ banking services lead Nigel Dobson. We're thrilled to keep testing our capacity and seeing how this use case might be used in other industries and to different customers in the future."

The in-house purpose-built stablecoin smart contract was developed in collaboration with Fireblocks, Chainalysis, and OpenZeppelin.

Rather of paying hefty fees to convert $30 million in Australian dollars to USDC, ANZ used Fireblocks' tokenisation engine to create its own stablecoin.

"The financial sector is undergoing tremendous transition," says Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov, "and we are empowering institutions with end-to-end technology for hooking into tokenisation, DeFi, staking, and crypto trading." ANZ has established itself as a leader in innovation by being the first bank to manufacture a stablecoin, and we look forward to embracing additional institutions who are on the same road."

ANZ has a strong record of using blockchain solutions and is a founding partner of Lygon, a company that uses blockchain technology to expedite bank guarantees.

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