World Bank rolls out first digital bond issuance on Euroclear

The World Bank said it has raised $105 million through a three-year digital bond to finance its sustainable development initiatives

article-image

T. Schneider/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

The World Bank has initiated the first issuance of digital securities on Euroclear’s newly launched Digital Securities platform.

Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), a platform based on distributed ledger technology, facilitates the establishment, issuance and settlement of international securities digitally, all under English law, according to a Tuesday press release.

The World Bank said it has raised 100 million euros ($105.9 million) from the three-year digital bond, dedicated to backing its sustainable development projects, with the bond making its debut on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The bond’s release involved Citi overseeing the issuance and payment processes, TD Securities serving as the dealer and Euroclear Bank functioning as the Central Securities Depository for the issuer. 

R3, the developer behind the platform, said that the Corda permissioned blockchain was used for the bond issuance.

The World Bank first experimented with blockchain bonds in 2018 by raising around $73 million.

Other experiments with blockchain-based bond issuance, such as those by Société Générale, have used public Ethereum.

Asset tokenization is transforming finance by making transactions more efficient and reducing costs through digital processing. 

It democratizes investment by breaking down high-value assets into purchasable tokens, thereby broadening market access. 

This process enhances liquidity, turning illiquid assets like real estate or art into easily tradable forms. Additionally, it transcends geographic restrictions, creating a round-the-clock global market and facilitating smoother international transactions.

“The integration of DLT in asset issuance is a critical step forward in the evolution of our ecosystem’s digital capabilities, as we continue to deliver on our goal of becoming a fully digital and data enabled Financial Market Infrastructure,” Lieve Mostrey, Euroclear’s CEO, said in a statement.

Boston Consulting Group forecasts that by 2030, the global industry for tokenizing illiquid assets could expand to $16 trillion, accounting for 10% of the world’s gross domestic product.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?