World Bank launches Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument (bond-i)
There's something profound about the World Bank being behind a milestone in blockchain technology that
The supra-national organization is the antithesis of decentralization and yet last week it launched the world's first public bond created and managed using only blockchain technology. It raised A$100 million in a deal that was designed more as a test.
But the test worked, the AAA-rated World Bank sold the two-year bonds at 2.251% in a deal that settles tomorrow.
It's a genuine breakthrough that could lower the costs of marketing and administering bonds.
"You're collapsing a traditional bond issuance from a manual bookbuild process and allocation process, an extended settlement then a registrar and a custodian, into something that could happen online instantaneously," James Wall, executive general manager at CBA told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.
The problem for cryptos right now is that they're at the 'show-me' stage where they have to prove they can do something that's disruptive and adds value in the real world. That's proving to be a mighty struggle.
This isn't a crypto launch but it shows that blockchain technology is being adopted. The Australian Securities Exchange use distributed ledger technology to clear and settle equities trades from 2020 to help cut costs.
More at Reuters.
