Betashares leads raising for ex-NAB execs’ stablecoin biz Macropod
8th March, 2026
Sydney-based ETF powerhouse Betashares is taking a second bite of Macropod, a stablecoin issuer that last year became the country’s first player to win approval from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Sources told this column Betashares is the lead investor in a funding round run by Macropod, topping up four months after the passive investing giant acquired a minority stake [https://www.afr.com/link/follow-20180101-p5niwb] in the start-up.
The funding round is understood to have valued Macropod at about $50 million, and brought in under $10 million. Macropod and Betashares declined to comment when contacted by Street Talk over the weekend. The round also drew commitments from Galaxy Digital, a digital assets giant capitalised at $C10.65 billion ($11 billion) on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Paris based crypto fintech Flow desk which is backed by BlackRock.
Two Sydney-based financial investors rounded off the roster, including Primal Capital and Digital Asset Capital Management. Macropod chief executive Drew Bradford helped create the first AUDN stablecoin at NAB alongside former colleague Rob Waugh before the bank killed the project in2024. [https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/nab-kills-its-stablecoin-bankersdecamp-to-form-ubiquity-20240614-p5jlv3].
Stablecoins, which use the same distributed ledger technology as bitcoin, are pegged to real-life currencies such as US dollar. Their two main uses include buying other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and making instantaneous transfers without waiting for settlement and clearing. Stablecoin issuers like Macropod earn revenue from the interest on the fiat currency used to buy the coins – which can run into billions for bigger players such as Tether – or by charging users transaction fees.
Macropod’s AUDM went live in September and trades on multiple crypto exchanges.
Published by AFR: https://www.afr.com/street-talk/betashares-to-buy-stake-in-ex-nab-execs-stablecoin-biz-20251127-p5niwb
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