ANZ has partnered with Grollo Carbon Ventures (GCV) to trade Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), marking the completion of ANZ's first use-case in a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot. This initiative is conducted by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC).
In this use-case, ANZ and GCV tested tokenisation of nature-based assets, starting with ACCUs. ANZ tokenised existing ACCUs and issued its stablecoin, A$DC, allowing GCV to purchase tokenised ACCUs. Settlement occurred nearly in real-time via ANZ smart contracts on a public, permissionless blockchain.
Nigel Dobson, ANZ Banking Services Lead, stated: “ANZ is pleased to be working with GCV to test what’s possible as we explore secure access to the digital economy in a way that also supports the community and environment. When applied to carbon markets, tokenisation has the potential to improve efficiency and transparency, reduce risk and preserve the unique characteristics of underlying projects to incentivise investment in climate solutions.”
Lorenz Grollo, CEO of Grollo Group, commented: “Grollo Carbon Ventures was established to invest in innovative sustainability solutions, and this transaction has been an exciting research opportunity. As more organisations implement net-zero transition plans the demand for nature-based assets is expected to grow significantly.”
ANZ has previously demonstrated its capability in digital assets by executing a payment using A$DC last year through a public blockchain transaction.
The DFCRC pilot aims to explore CBDC use cases in Australia and its potential economic benefits. More information about this pilot can be accessed through official channels.
ACCUs are issued by Australia's Clean Energy Regulator for projects compliant with approved methodologies for emissions avoidance or reduction. These credits include unique project information such as methodology used and additional environmental benefits. Tokenisation can help maintain accurate records of these attributes ensuring asset integrity.