Westpac is embracing the concept of digital assets and distributed ledgers, intending to drive adoption of these innovative technologies and cultivate business strategies and partnerships.
The bank recently posted an open call seeking a principal architect for digital assets and cryptocurrency to propel Westpac’s emerging digital assets business and achieve market leadership.
Westpac will pursue new technology partnerships, potential investments, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) opportunities within the digital products sector, according to the recruitment post.
The institution’s aim is to decode and transform emerging trends in the cryptocurrency and digital assets arena into inventive, future opportunities for Westpac and its customers.
“Big Four” banks explore cryptocurrency space
While the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) led the charge towards creating a retail cryptocurrency trading platform, this project was paused in May after facing regulatory challenges and intense market volatility.
CBA partnered with global crypto exchange Gemini and leading blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis in November last year to design an in-app crypto exchange and custody service. The feature would offer customers the ability to buy and sell up to ten different cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
The bank initially pursued this opportunity after in-house research discovered a large swathe of customers wanted access to crypto assets as a potential investment, with many declaring holdings through an array of digital exchanges.
In May, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) group executive for Australian retail Maile Carnegie told attendees of the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit that although the bank had considered crypto products as early as 2017, there was no present intention to enter the digital assets marketplace.
“Are we really going to make it easier [to] … and implicitly endorse speculating on crypto when [customers] don’t understand basic financial wellbeing? The answer is no,” Carnegie said.
National Australia Bank (NAB) chief digital officer Angela Mentis revealed that there were no foreseeable plans to develop a retail crypto trading platform but mentioned that the bank was exploring uses for blockchain technology with regards to institutional clients.
CBA chief executive Matt Comyn told the same audience that the bank is still “intent” on launching its crypto trading service but couldn’t specify when this may occur.
In March, ANZ became the first Australian bank to mint its own stablecoin – a cryptocurrency whose market value is pegged to an external reference. The bank’s coin, A$DC, is tied to the value of the Australian dollar (AUD) and can be used by institutional clients to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Last month Victor Smorgon Group successfully purchased tokenised Australian carbon credits (BCAU) from Australian crypto asset investment platform Zerocap using A$DC, at a rate of 1kg of carbon captured per token.
NAB plans to launch its own stablecoin by the end of this year, with an initial use case to settle trades on its own carbon credit platform Carbonplace, a digital marketplace where organisations can exchange carbon offsets.
Intense volatility, reluctant real-world adoption and accessibility issues have emboldened consumer advocates to petition Australia’s government to regulate cryptocurrency markets.
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