The World Bank has commissioned the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to issue the world’s first blockchain-based bonds. These bonds are being issued with the intention to make the process of raising capital as well as trading securities much simpler. As per the report, the largest bank in Australia will create, allocate, transfer, and manage the bonds using blockchain technology to the potential bondholders.
World Bank & CBA to use the Ethereum (ETH-USD) blockchain for operations
The World Bank made this announcement through its press release published on its official website on August 10. Officially this bond to be developed by CBA is to be called The Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument. The CBA will develop it exclusively on a platform of blockchain in collaboration with the World Bank. Investor’s opinions and recommendations will be taken into consideration prior to launching the operations of the bond on blockchain platform. Some of the investors who are favoring this collaboration include QBE Insurance, Northern Trust, and Treasury Corporation of Victoria.
Both CBA and the World Bank have decided mutually to use the Ethereum blockchain platform for operating the bond. It does not in any way mean that the two establishments will stick to this platform for long. In its statement CBA said that if this platform grows rapidly, as usually is the case with other blockchain platforms, then the collaboration may use other alternatives to improve functionality.
Blockchain-based bonds above par as per Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
An independent review conducted by Microsoft on this blockchain-based bond system revealed that on the parameters of security, capacity and scaling capabilities, the bond operations are above par. Initially, the World Bank is planning to operate the mechanism in Washington D.C. for the boni on Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing system. According to the Executive General Manager of Institutional Banking & Markets International of CBA, James Wall, “We believe that this transaction will be groundbreaking as a demonstration of how blockchain technology can act as a facilitating platform for different participants.”
While speaking about the technology for blockchain-based bonds, the treasurer of the World Bank, Arunma Oteh, said that it took them around a year for developing technology that supports global bond issues on the blockchain platform.