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Intesa Sanpaolo and CDP leverage polygonal blockchain to issue €25 million digital bonds, as RWA tokenization ramps up
Italy’s state-owned development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP) and Intesa Sanpaolo, the country’s largest lender with more than $1 trillion in assets, completed a digital bond issuance using blockchain technology on Thursday, the first such transaction under the country’s new digital asset rules.
The €25 million bond with a four-month maturity was issued by CDP on the Ethereum-based Polygon platform (MATIC) network, with Intesa Sanpaolo as the underwriter and sole investor, according to a press release. The cash flow was settled in euros on the same day (T+0) using the Bank of Italy’s “TIPS Hash Link” tool that enables interoperability between blockchain and traditional payment systems.
The deal was the first digital bond issuance under the country’s so-called “FinTech” decree, which regulates the issuance and circulation of digital versions of certain financial instruments, the banks said.
The issuance is part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) initiative to test wholesale fiat settlement methods on blockchain.
Global banks and asset managers are increasingly exploring ways to put traditional financial instruments such as bonds, loans and funds on blockchain, also known as tokenization. real world goodsThey do it to achieve Operational benefits such as faster and more transparent transactions, lower costs and greater efficiency.
“This transaction demonstrates how public blockchains are a powerful technology for financial institutions, making transactions faster and more secure,” said Niccolò Bardoscia, head of digital asset trading and investments at Intesa Sanpaolo, in an interview with Fides. Posts on LinkedIn.
“Tokenization is setting a new standard for efficiency and automation in financial markets, and I believe this technological shift will impact not only bonds, but every asset class in the coming years,” he added.