Australia marks first FX transaction using a CBDC as eAUD pilot continues
The Australian digital dollar was used in a trade for a U.S. dollar stablecoin using an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain. Australia has successfully made its first foreign exchange transaction using eAUD as part of a live pilot for the country’s potential central bank digital currency (CBDC). It comes amid a rising interest from countries around the world to learn about or launch central bank-issued digital currencies. In a statement, blockchain infrastructure provider Canvas said on May 17 local time, crypto fund managers DigitalX and TAF Capital traded eAUD against the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). Canvas reported the transaction was settled instantly and touted it as a success over what it called the “slow, expensive and prone to errors” traditional FX and remittance networks. The FX trade was part of a series of tests currently underway as the country explores possible use cases for a CBDC. The pilot program was launched by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in conjunction with the fin...