His team is firm on its targets for the first 12 months of the AUDM stablecoin “Macropod” – a scalable, compliant and institutional-grade stablecoin that MHC Digital Group and Catena Digital launched earlier this week.
“In the first year, we aim to see AUDM embedded into major Australian exchanges, wealth platforms and remittance corridors. If AUDM becomes the default way to move Australian dollars on blockchain rails in institutional workflows, that will be success,” Carroll told InvestorDaily.
The recent kiss of approval from the corporate watchdog has opened the door for digital assets to “officially” fuse with traditional finance.
“The main challenge has been regulatory certainty. For years, stablecoins sat in a grey zone in Australia, which made it difficult for issuers or banks to commit,” Carroll said.
“The latest approvals provide a pathway under the existing AFSL framework for Macropod to issue AUDM, with relevant licensing relief downstream for secondary distribution and use cases. This creates a workable framework that balances innovation with consumer protection.”
Carroll believes the initial adoption of AUDM will come from parts of the financial ecosystem where money already moves every day.
“Exchanges will likely be the first movers, given their need for reliable AUD rails and their role in driving liquidity and visibility. We also expect early interest from wealth platforms, fintechs and payments providers who see the efficiency gains in settlement,” he said.
“Beyond that, adoption will broaden as institutional confidence builds.”
Zerocap’s head of sales, Mark Hiriart, hopes AUDM boosts the case for cryptocurrency adoption in Australia.
“The launch of a fully licensed, AUD-backed stablecoin platform was inevitable, but this announcement comes at a particularly great time, with institutional support of crypto only continuing to grow globally,” Hiriart told InvestorDaily.
“There is a significant but largely unrealised opportunity for crypto within Australia, and an Aussie stablecoin will help to foster local confidence in the asset class, both from institutional players and retail investors.”
Stablecoins processed over US$26 trillion in transactions in 2024, surpassing Visa and Mastercard. Carroll sees a significant opportunity for that activity to shift into AUD-denominated rails.
“The Australian dollar is the fifth-most traded currency in the world, accounting for [more than] 6 per cent of global FX volumes. As stablecoin adoption goes mainstream, we expect to see growing adoption of non-USD stablecoins, as the benefits of their use case translate to ‘on-chain’ FX market,” he said.
“Even capturing 1–2 per cent of global stablecoin volumes would equate to hundreds of billions of dollars transacted through AUD rails annually. For local exchanges, wealth platforms, remittance, trade finance and local treasury use cases, the Australian dollar is well positioned to grow share.”
While the digital asset has faced scrutiny overseas around money laundering and financial stability risks, Carroll argued Australia is doing all the right things.
“AUDM operates inside Australia’s existing regulatory perimeter. It is issued under an AFSL, it has reserves at NAB and is subject to full AML/CTF compliance. Every transaction is on-chain, transparent and auditable. That combination of regulatory licensing, institutional custody and proof-of-reserves ensures AUDM avoids the pitfalls seen in unregulated overseas markets,” he said.
Clarity, combined with strong engagement from NAB and institutional partners, were pivotal in enabling Macropod to launch AUDM. As for how critical it is to have the backing of a big four bank for institutional confidence, Edward replied: “It is essential.”
“Institutional clients demand transparency and trust. AUDM is fully backed 1:1 by deposits held at NAB, with monthly proof of reserves published to APRA standards. Securing that partnership required aligning governance, compliance and reporting to the same level of rigour as traditional financial products,” he said.
Carroll noted the key differentiator being that AUDM is not “speculative” cryptocurrency.
“Stablecoins are an on-chain representation of fiat dollars sitting in a bank account. All Macropod reserves are fully audited, compliant and verifiable, and with the recent relief from ASIC, can operate within the regulated financial system,” Carroll said.
“The partnership is built on shared standards of compliance and transparency. For banks and institutions, this is infrastructure, not experimentation, and that is why it will endure.”
