ANZ's A$DC stablecoin used to purchase tokenised carbon credits

ANZ Banking Group’s A$DC cryptocurrency has been used by the Victor Smorgon Group to purchase tokenised Australian carbon credits (BCAU).

A$DC is a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency tied to a commodity or currency, for greater price stability than standalone cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The major bank completed its first Australian stablecoin transaction using A$DC in March this year for Victor Smorgon Group via Zerocap, a private wealth management firm for digital assets.

For its second crypto transaction with the bank, Victor Smorgon Group used A$DC to purchase tokenised Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) known as BCAU from Zerocap.

Zerocap sourced the BCAU from BetaCarbon, which tokenises the ACCUs into digital tokens, with each representing one kilogram of carbon captured.

The bank said the transaction was “an important step” as it looks to build circulation of the stablecoin.

ANZ banking services lead Nigel Dobson said the “milestone” deal combined strategic goals for the bank.

“This milestone transaction brings together two key focus areas for ANZ, sustainability and digital assets," Dobson said.

“We’re seeing increasing customer appetite to use A$DC to enter the digital economy, and will continue to partner with our clients to explore how this technology can help them achieve their goals.”

In March, Dobson lauded stablecoins as "a new way for customers to transact”, with the bank “excited to continue to trial our capability”.

ANZ was also the guarantee issuer for the first digital banking guarantee on the Lygon blockchain platform and is a founding partner alongside CBA, Westpac, ANZ, Scentre Group and IBM.