National Australia Bank’s Adoption Of Blockchain Technology
Initially, the financial services industry has been the main focus of blockchain adoption. However, immutable data, decentralized systems, and other blockchain advantages increase efficiency, security, and transparency across various industries.
There are some interesting use cases for agriculture, automobile, insurance, media, entertainment, travel and hotel, real estate, and many more.
One of the most notable emerging technologies with a significant potential to disrupt numerous sectors is undoubtedly blockchain. Blockchain technology has demonstrated its efficacy in the financial sector by supporting cryptocurrencies. As a result, businesses are adopting Blockchain technology without hesitation to create Blockchain-based applications.
The Australian dollar-pegged stablecoin will be introduced on the Ethereum network in the middle of 2023, according to proposals revealed by National Australia Bank (NAB). With this move, National Australia Bank will become the second of Australia’s four major banks to introduce a stablecoin, after one of its rivals, ANZ, released 30 million tokens of the A$DC stablecoin in March 2022.
Blockchain Technology: AUD-Pegged Stablecoin
Similar to ANZ’s currency, the primary use cases for the AUDN stablecoin are to facilitate international payments and allow the exchange of carbon credits. According to Howard Silby, chief innovation officer at NAB, the bank decided to create a 1:1 stablecoin backed by the Australian dollar because it thinks blockchain technology will be crucial to the future of banking. He underlined the instantaneous, transparent, and inclusive financial outcomes that blockchain technology might produce and voiced his opinion that it has the potential to play a significant role in the future of finance.
For real-time, cross-border payments, using a stablecoin like AUDN offers several advantages over the slower and less economical SWIFT payment network. The bank also believes that significant AUDN applications will include trading in carbon credits and turning tangible assets into tokens. Additionally, Silby stated that NAB plans to offer stablecoins in licensed currencies.
It is important to note that Australia’s Big Four banks had planned to jointly introduce a national stablecoin that was pegged to the AUD before ANZ debuted its stablecoin. The initiatives, however, were unsuccessful because of the banks’ varying levels of strategy and acceptance and broader worries about competition.
It is still being determined how these private stablecoins will interact with each other. However, Australia’s financial sector has recently shown a growing interest in adopting blockchain technology since the country’s adoption of cryptocurrencies should increase significantly in 2023.