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Clearstream, DekaBank and DZ Bank have jointly issued two tokenised €5 million bonds using distributed-ledger technology (DLT).
The issuances took place during the European Central Bank (ECB) trials, which are aimed at exploring the potential of DLT for settling wholesale transactions in central bank money. The trials are taking place from May to November 2024.
The processes run on Deutsche Börse’s D7 DLT and include both the security transaction and the transfer of funds using digital central bank money.
The transactions mark the first institutional-grade issuances in Germany on DLT using wholesale digital central bank money, says Clearstream.
DekaBank acted as issuer and DZ Bank as investor — with swapped roles in the second case — while Clearstream acted as DLT market operator, providing the technical infrastructure with its digital securities platform D7, developed in partnership with Google Cloud.
According to Deutsche Börse Group, connecting D7 with the Bundesbank Trigger Solution reflects the bond settlement in the European TARGET2 payment system.
Silvio Lenk, head of treasury at DekaBank, says: “The use case impresses with the simplicity of issuing a security with DLT technology, and at the same time, benefiting from the advantages of the Trigger Solution.
“The delivery versus payment of the Trigger Solution proves how the issuing and settlement processes of private blockchains and wholesale CBDC will interact in future. As issuer, banks benefit from the speed, scalability, and security of the new technology.”
Jens Hachmeister, head of issuer services and new digital markets at Clearstream, says: “With our new D7 DLT, launched for the ECB trials, we provide processing of digital assets and high-quality cash on-chain, which is an important step in developing a digital European securities landscape.
“This transaction represents a significant milestone for the creation of stable digital capital markets in Germany and Europe, demonstrating the power of digital solutions in enhancing safety, liquidity and efficiency.”
