Compliant Stablecoin Launches in New Zealand

Compliant Stablecoin Launches in New Zealand

A New Zealand-based firm says it has created the country’s first compliant stablecoin, one backed by the country’s dollar.

According to a press release shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday, the New Zealand dollar stablecoin ($NZDs) is issued by Techemynt, a regulated company with ties to crypto hedge fund Techemy Capital.

Launching today, the cryptocurrency is backed one-to-one by the New Zealand dollar and deployed on the Ethereum blockchain by Blockchain Labs. $NZDs’ code utilizes a framework developed by Coinbase and Circle-founded Centre group.

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“$NZDs combines the stability and value of the New Zealand Dollar with the intrinsic utility of cryptocurrency to allow arbitrage, remittance, and digital payments, while positioning the New Zealand Dollar as a prominent participant in the global digital asset economy,” the company said.

To ensure transparency, reserves of the New Zealand dollar backing the stablecoin are to be confirmed by a “leading accounting firm” with reports delivered on a quarterly basis, according to the firm’s website.

Techemynt is registered as a Financial Service Provider in New Zealand, according to a listing by Companies Office, a governmental department within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The company shares ties with asset investment firm Techemy Capital via its co-founder Fran Strajnar, who told CoinDesk via email that Techemynt had spent nine months with law firm MinterEllisonRuddWatts to “ensure” NZDs was up to regulatory standard.

“I would think that any observer would see [a] material difference in the quality and approach of NZDs compared to other efforts which never took off,” said Strajnar.

New Zealand has seen several attempts at the creation of a stablecoin backed by the dollar. In May 2017, the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia issued the first unregulated stablecoin, NZDT.

After the exchange’s bank got cold feet citing regulatory concerns, Cryptopia was forced to delist the token. Another attempt at creating the stablecoin was slated for the first quarter of 2019, but not before the exchange suffered a hack that ultimately ended in its liquidation.

New Zealand Fintech Company Set To Launch StableCoin

New Zealand Fintech company Techemynt is now offering a New Zealand Dollar stable coin called NZDs, backed 1:1 by the New Zealand Dollar.

Stable coins have become the quintessential currency for trading cryptocurrencies. They offer plenty of benefits, such as allowing traders to hold value during market volatility. The importance of stable coins has seen a dramatic increase in recent months.

Tether (USDT) remains the largest stable coin in the market. Backed 1:1 by US Dollar, the project ranks in the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

Now it appears that there will finally be a lucrative New Zealand stable coin. Techemynt has launched its own stable coin backed 1:1 by the New Zealand Dollar. The stable coin will operate under the ticker $NZDs.

Crypto Growth in New Zealand

The growth of cryptocurrencies across the world has seen stable coins play a vital role. By offering instant processing, transferability, and a store of value, stable coins have become integral to the volatile markets. The launch of $NZDs will now mean New Zealanders can trade cryptocurrencies in their own currency.

Techemynt Executive Director Fran Strajnar commented on the launch of the stable coin, saying, “Between the popularity of the New Zealand Dollar and the proliferation of cryptocurrency, Techemynt felt it was an ideal time to fill the gap in the market and lead the creation of an NZD-based stable coin.”

Strajnar also stated that the project had taken over a year to develop. The project also adheres to New Zealand’s legal requirements, he confirmed.

NZDs Ready for Purchase

Currently, investors can purchase the stablecoin directly from Techemynt’s website. However, the minimum amount to purchase is NZ $100,000. Users can also purchase stablecoins on secondary exchanges in New Zealand, such as cryptocurrency exchange Dassetx.com.

While the launch of a New Zealand stable coin will offer more on-ramps for traders in the country looking to trade and move funds, The stable coin will have a lot to prove. New Zealand is well known for having operated the once-popular cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia.

The exchange was hacked in early 2019 and is still in liquidation, with users yet to receive a single dime from the company.

Visa CEO talks bitcoin, stablecoin service strategy in podcast appearance

Visa CEO Al Kelly dug into the credit card company’s crypto-focused strategy in a podcast appearance this week.

Kelly’s comments to Fortune’s Leadership Next covered the bulk of what Visa aims to accomplish via a multi-pronged strategy that covers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as fiat-backed tokens or stablecoins.

In a broader sense, according to Kelly, the goal is to place the credit card giant “in the middle of” activity around new payments methods and technologies so that if they do catch on in the mainstream, Visa is able to capture the business opportunity. Recent months have seen Visa strike partnerships with firms like crypto banking startup Anchorage and community bank First Boulevard.

Indeed, Kelly’s comments illustrate what The Block’s Ryan Todd called “Crypto-as-a-Service” in a research column earlier this month.

Speaking to Fortune, Kelly divided Visa’s view of the landscape into cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and digital currencies backed by fiat currencies like the dollar.

For the latter category, Kelly said: “we’re trying to do two things. One is enable the purchase of bitcoin on Visa credentials. And secondly, working with bitcoin wallets to allow the bitcoin to be translated into a fiat currency and therefore immediately be able to be used at any of the 70 million places around the world where Visa is accepted."

On the latter subject, “there we see a strong potential for those to become a new payment vehicle,” according to Kelly, particularly in emerging markets.

“So certainly in the digital currency world, we’re working with lots of players. There’s about 35 different players we’re working with,” he explained, saying:

“These are currencies that are fiat-backed, but we’re allowing this translation, if you will, into a fiat currency and in a wallet where there’s a Visa card and again that Visa card can be used with the translated digital currency over to the fiat currency to purchase at any one of our 70 million locations.”

Visa’s crypto strategy is in some sense aligned with fellow credit card giant Mastercard, which has made plain its intention to both capture value from interest around cryptocurrencies while exploring business opportunities in both the stablecoin sphere as well as the future of central bank digital currencies.