National Australia Bank, a major financial institution, has achieved a world-first by utilizing a NAB-issued stablecoin(AUDN) to conduct an intra-bank cross-border transaction on a layer-one public blockchain, according to an official announcement.

AUDN is NAB's Australian stablecoin, backed one-for-one with the Australian dollar and managed as a liability of the bank. It is the foundation of NAB's digital asset ambitions and enables greater transparency, accessibility, and scalability by transacting on a public, permissionless layer-one blockchain.

By conducting a pilot transaction on the public and permissionless Ethereum blockchain, NAB was able to deploy stablecoin smart contracts for seven major global currencies. This successful pilot highlights the potential to significantly reduce the time required for cross-border transactions, from days to just minutes. Additionally, it brings NAB closer to offering a simpler and faster experience to clients who operate in multiple jurisdictions and currencies, starting with corporate and institutional clients.

“We are committed to pursuing the right digital asset opportunities with clear customer benefits. Bringing multi-currency stablecoins to market demonstrates NAB’s focus on simplifying international banking protocols to increase speed and transparency while lowering costs and reducing complexity for customers,” says Drew Bradford, the Executive General Manager of NAB.