Australia's financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has granted a full Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) to AUDC Private Ltd. (AUDC Pty Ltd) on February 10, 2026. This landmark approval transforms the AUDD stablecoin into a fully regulated, institutional-grade payment instrument, specifically authorizing it to operate on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
The license authorizes AUDC to provide non-cash payment facilities, a regulatory category covering digital payment instruments used for transactions. This provides a clear legal framework for Australian banks and businesses to issue, hold, and use the digital Australian dollar for on-chain transactions, eliminating previous compliance uncertainty. Before this license, AUDD was considered an unregulated digital asset.
AUDD is backed 1:1 by Australian dollars held in segregated trust accounts at Australian banks, following the same full cash backing model as USDC and Tether. The license implicitly recognizes the XRP Ledger as legitimate payment infrastructure, establishing it as usable for regulated financial activity beyond speculation. While AUDD also operates on Stellar, Ethereum, Solana, Hedera, and Base, its XRPL-native positioning is central to this announcement.
The license follows a proven track record. Payments firm Novatti, which holds approximately 45% of AUDC, expanded AUDD to XRPL in 2023. By late 2025, AUDD had already processed over $1 billion in transactions on the Stellar network through institutional trials, demonstrating operational viability at scale before regulatory approval.
This development positions Australia alongside the EU's MiCA framework and the UK's digital asset licensing regime in applying same-risk, same-regulation principles to stablecoins, contributing to international regulatory convergence. The price of XRP remained below $1.45 at the time of the announcement, despite community optimism surrounding this regulatory milestone.
