Mastercard achieves success in CBDC wrapping trial, boosting blockchain interoperability
The solution was developed in partnership with Australian financial services firm Cuscal and fintech company Mintable
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On October 12, the credit card company Mastercard announced the successful completion of a trial involving wrapping Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) on different blockchains. The new solution enables CBDCs to interoperate across multiple blockchains with increased ease and security.
The trial was executed as a part of the CBDC pilot project by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) to explore the potential use cases of CBDC in Australia. The solution was developed in partnership with Australian financial services firm Cuscal and fintech company Mintable.
During a live demonstration, Mastercard showcased how their solution could allow a holder of a pilot CBDC to buy an NFT listed on the Ethereum public blockchain. The process involved “locking†the needed amount of pilot CBDC on the RBA’s pilot CBDC platform and creating an equivalent amount of wrapped pilot CBDC tokens on Ethereum.
A prerequisite of the test transaction was that the Ethereum wallets of both the buyer and seller and the NFT marketplace smart contract had to be ‘allow-listed’ on the platform.
With all other transfers of the wrapped pilot CBDC blocked, the platform’s ability to implement controls even on public blockchains was successfully demonstrated.
Zack Burcks, the CEO and founder of Mintable, recognized the significance of this trial. He said, “The vast potential of NFTs was obvious during this progressive CBDC pilot. Together with Mastercard, we have identified a use case whereby digital currencies and NFTs can easily be linked, potentially stamping out fraud and theft, ending the loss of documentation and records, and unleashing new possibilities for commerce.â€
