A$DC rocks the Aussie dollar as ANZ bank mints first AUD stablecoin

cointelegraph.com:

Big 4 bank ANZ has become the first Australian bank to mint an Australia dollar (AUD) pegged stablecoin named “A$DC.”

But rival bank NAB also has its own stablecoin project which is expected to launch by the end of the year.

ANZ is working with local regulators such as AUSTRAC and APRA to get the project signed off in a compliant manner, and has already run a test transaction on the Ethereum blockchain with its institutional partner Victor Smorgon Group, the family office tied to the billionaire Smorgon family.

According to a March 24 report from the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the stablecoin will initially be rolled out for institutional clients seeking a cost-effective on-ramp for crypto investments, however it is likely to be opened up to the retail trading market in the near future as well.

The pilot transaction saw Victor Smorgon send $22 million (A$30 million) worth of A$DC to Zerocap, an Australian digital asset fund manager that has partnered with ANZ to provide key infrastructure and advisory services.

Fireblocks, a global digital asset custodian, provided the infrastructure, while OpenZepplin audited the smart contracts. Chainalysis has signed on to assist with compliance and regulatory obligations.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Zerocap CEO Ryan McCall emphasized that the ANZ’s move is not only a “huge step” in crypto going mainstream for Australia, but also globally, as it provides a legitimate example of a stablecoin being backed by a fully regulated, compliant and traditional financial institution:

In relation to the A$DC pilot test, McCall noted the ANZ’s institutional division “were enthusiastic and fully committed to this project, the ecosystem generally, and delivering an end-to-end solution and