In a statement released by the World Bank, the financial institution has just launched a blockchain-only bond called ‘bond-i’ that has been arranged by the CBA (Commonwealth Bank of Australia).
As things currently stand, the bond has already raised around U.S. $80 million and has incurred direct investments from many of Australia’s premier banking institutions as well as state treasuries. Additionally, Arunma Oteh, Treasurer of the World Bank, also stated via an online press-release that additional help in setting up the bond was received from companies such as King & Wood Mallesons, Mark-it, Microsoft and Toronto Dominion Securities.
About bond-i
According to the World Bank, this is the first time blockchain technology has been used to manage a financial bond ‘through its entire life-cycle’.
And while this may not be an accurate representation of the truth, particularly because other smaller companies have also tried issuing private bonds using digital assets in the past, this is the first time an institution of such a mammoth size has undertaken such a venture.
In an interview with Fortune, a spokesperson for the World Bank said that ‘bond-i’ is the first blockchain bond to be offered to a “public/global range of investors”.
He then went on to add:
“What sets bond-i apart from other blockchain projects is that the entire bond process—from creation to allocation and management throughout its two-year life cycle—takes place on [the] blockchain.”
More on the matter
Even though Spanish banking giant BBVA has previously offered customers with blockchain-based corporate loans, the size and scale of bond-i are significantly more enormous.
In relation to this groundbreaking development, Oteh added:
“We welcome the huge interest that this transaction has generated from various stakeholders and will continue to seek ways to leverage emerging technologies to make capital markets more secure and efficient.”
In Closing
While this latest step from the World Bank may tempt many people to believe that the financial powerhouse is finally warming up to crypto-assets, the reality seems to be far from it.
As some might recall, a few months back, Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank was noted as saying: “A vast majority of cryptocurrencies are basically Ponzi schemes.”
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