(25 March 2022 – Australia) ANZ announced the execution of its first Australian stablecoin transaction with a digital currency labelled “A$DC”.
The Stablecoin transaction was conducted for Victor Smorgon Group using a private wealth management firm for digital assets, Zerocap. ANZ reported that it “minted” 30 million A$DC using an ANZ built Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) via a smart contract through digital assets platform, Fireblocks.
Stablecoins are a rapidly growing type of cryptocurrency whose value is linked to an underlying asset such as a currency or commodity for enhanced price stability. The largest Stablecoin, Tether, is pegged to the US Dollar, as are most major Stablecoins. The outstanding value of all Stablecoins has grown to more than US$175 billion from US$5 billion in 2020.
Globally, the US Biden administration and members of Congress are making progress toward setting up a recognised market structure for Stablecoins, which officials have warned could pose systemic dangers. US Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance, Nellie Liang confirms there is “broad agreement risks posed by Stablecoins need to be addressed, especially given the growth of the market”. President Joe Biden signed an executive order that directed federal agencies to devote more attention to the study and prospective regulation of digital assets. It placed the “highest urgency” on the research, development and design of a potential US Federal Reserve central bank digital currency (CBDC) and directed the Treasury to report on the implications of a CBDC within 180 days.
“An ANZ issued Australian dollar stablecoin is a first and important step in enabling our customers to find a safe and secure gateway to the digital economy. Stablecoins are a new way for customers to transact and in this case was an efficient and direct way for Victor Smorgon Group to access Zerocap’s digital asset exchange and move funds across a decentralised network” commented ANZ Banking Services Lead, Nigel Dobson.
“We’re excited to continue to trial our capability and explore how this use case can be applied in other industries and to other customers in the future” Dobson added.