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BNP Paribas Launches First Slovenian Sovereign Bond on Canton Blockchain
Slovenia has made history by issuing the Eurozone’s first digital sovereign bond, using Canton’s blockchain platform for on-chain settlement.
Slovenia Issues Eurozone’s First Sovereign Digital Bond in an On-Chain Transaction Facilitated by France banking giant BNP Paribas and using the Banque de France’s tokenized money solution.
In a Press release On Friday, BNP Paribas said the issuance was part of the European Central Bank’s experimental wholesale money settlement programme. The digital bond from Slovenia was issued using BNP Paribas’ Neobonds platform, which operates in the Canton Blockchain.
“BNP Paribas is committed to contributing to the Eurosystem-led wholesale digital settlement solutions that will make bond settlement more efficient and secure,” said Frederic Zorzi, Global Head of Primary Markets at BNP Paribas CIB, in the release.
BNP Paribas says Neobonds has registered legal ownership of digital bonds, allowing network participants to manage the operational framework for issuing and trading bonds on secondary markets. The bond, with a nominal value of 30 million euros, has a coupon of 3.65% and matures on November 25.
Canton was launched in 2021 by financial technology firm Digital Asset in an effort to create an interoperable, privacy-enabled blockchain network designed to provide decentralized infrastructure for institutional clients. In addition to BNP Paribas, the network’s roster of participants also includes Deloitte, Cboe Global Markets, Goldman Sachs, and Microsoft, among others.