StarkEx-based network hosts first forex swap using Australia's trial CBDC

Australia completed its first foreign exchange transaction using the eAUD, in a live pilot trial for the country’s in-development central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Canvas, an Australian fintech firm, oversaw a foreign exchange transaction using the the eAUD, leveraging StarkWare’s Layer 2 technology, StarkEx, according to a press release. The operation forms part of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) pilot program dedicated to trialling its CBDC.

The transaction demonstrated the potential of Layer 2 technology for processing forex transactions and international remittances. DigitalX, a firm listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and venture fund TAF Capital were the participating entities in the transaction.

The firms executed an on-chain swap between the eAUD and the USDC stablecoin. This event took place on Canvas Connect, a private network that integrates StarkWare’s Layer-2 scalability tool StarkEx. StarkEx's technology is also utilized by well-known decentralized crypto applications, including dYdX and Immutable.

StarkEx’s Layer 2 solution employs ZK-Rollups to enable off-chain computation while maintaining on-chain data availability. This approach boosts both scalability and privacy within a blockchain — key attributes required for Canvas’s forex application for the CBDC, according to StarkWare representatives.

StarkWare anticipates that Layer 2 technology will prove instrumental in traditional finance and decentralized finance alike. “Central banks want the benefits of faster settlement but do not desire permissionless networks. StarkEx’s Layer 2 technology can be used to create networks with private sequencers, providing the best of both worlds,” Liron Hayman, an executive at StarkWare, told to The Block.