ANZ exec: 'weight of money' means cryptocurrencies can't be ignored

The cryptocurrency industry has grown to a size that traditional finance cannot ignore, an executive from ANZ Bank told a forum hosted by Blockchain Australia.

The comments came a day after ANZ rival Commonwealth Bank announced it would launch a crypto trading service supporting 10 digital assets through its Commbank app.

Blockchain Australia hosted the “State of Play” forum on Nov. 4, where representatives from institutions including Mastercard, ANZ and National Australia Bank expressed their views on the crypto industry after the CBA announced its move.

Today we hosted the 'State of Play' forum with over 1200 people registered, featuring speakers from some of Australia's biggest names.

This talk made it clear that a payments revolution is on the horizon.

— Blockchain Australia (@BlockchainAUS) November 4, 2021

Nigel Dobson, ANZ Banking Services Portfolio Head, said the growth of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology over the past 12 to 18 months has brought the sector into ANZ’s focus:

"In a way, you can't ignore this weight of money, right? We've been watching for a while in the DeFi world, even in the currency space, the weight and quality of money that's coming into these areas makes us think, what's going on here in what happened?"

He added: "When digging into this issue, we came to the conclusion that this is a major protocol shift in financial market infrastructure."

Dobson is a senior banker with over 30 years experience at Barclays, Citibank and ANZ. He likens the technological advancements brought about by blockchain technology to the transformative impact the internet had on global commerce in the early 21st century.

"We're seeing the same shift happening here," he said. "We're moving to more decentralized, more trusted, safer, faster, cheaper, better -- that's yet to be proven -- but if these Agreements can generate better outcomes and new business models, then they cannot be ignored,”

Other members of Australia’s big four banks have not announced any immediate plans to follow the CBA’s lead in supporting crypto transactions. Dobson said it was unclear how the CBA trial would work, but suggested ANZ could join it at some stage.

He said: "I think the CBA made a bold move yesterday and it remains to be seen whether customers will take it up. But what is certain is that everything we have been talking about today, particularly in this part of the commentary, is that the boat has sailed. So what we need to do is guide the way we take advantage of these networks."

The upbeat comments mark a major change for ANZ. ANZ recently reached a settlement with Canberra-based bitcoin trader Aaron Flynn after Flynn sued ANZ for his removal from the bank in 2018 and 2019 over his career as a digital currency exchange (DCE) business.

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