Vonovia, a major European real estate group, has issued a 20 million euro ($24 million) bond using the Stellar blockchain. According to a Jan. 13 announcement, Vonovia has deployed the Stellar blockchain to issue security tokens for the transfer of real estate rights. The tokens were issued through an online marketplace called firstwire. Vonovia said that the blockchain-powered bond has a total term of three years. Helene von Roeder, chief financial officer at Vonovia, said that blockchain-powered bond digitization enabled the company to finance themselves “faster, easier and cheaper.” “Issues are transparent and traceable in real time, which guarantees a …

MicroStrategy (MSTR), a leading business intelligence firm, announced Friday that it has raised $650 million worth of convertible bonds to finance more Bitcoin (BTC) purchases, underscoring CEO Michael Saylor’s conviction in the flagship digital asset. The company confirmed Friday that it had sold $650 million worth of convertible senior notes at a rate of 0.750% due in 2025. The interest rate is payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 beginning in 2021. According to the press release: “MicroStrategy intends to invest the net proceeds from the sale of the notes in bitcoin in accordance with its Treasury Reserve Policy …

China Construction Bank, the world’s second-largest bank by assets, is cooperating with Malaysian and Singaporean partners to test blockchain technology for use in the bond market. As previously reported, China Construction Bank’s branch in Labuan, Malaysia, had initially pursued a partnership with a Labuan-based fintech firm to issue what was hailed as prospectively the first-ever blockchain-based digital security to be issued by a Chinese financial institution. CCB Labuan’s plan had been to use the Ethereum blockchain to issue bonds and raise up to $3 billion in total, starting with a tranche of $58 million, from both individuals and institutions. Within …

China Construction Bank’s $3 billion blockchain bond has been reportedly withdrawn following an initial delay. Fusang Exchange, a Malaysian cryptocurrency exchange that was to be responsible for listing the bond, said that it has been withdrawn at the issuer’s request. According to Reuters on Nov. 23, CCB’s branch in Labuan informed Fusang Exchange on Nov. 20 that the bond issuance would not proceed. The blockchain-based bond was to be issued by Longbond Ltd, a special purpose platform designed solely to issue digital bonds and deposit the proceeds with CCB Labuan. On Nov. 13, the day the bond had been due …

The listing of China Construction Bank’s blockchain-based debt issuance bonds has been delayed “at the request of the issuer” until further notice, according to a Friday statement from Fusang Exchange where they were due to be traded. A block explorer scan of the smart contract address associated with the sale shows no transactions, suggesting that the sale and issuance of the bonds has also been delayed. As Cointelegraph reported just last week, CCB is the second-largest bank in the world in terms of assets held. It planned to raise up to $3 billion in total through the bond issuance, with …

China Construction Bank has partnered with a Labuan-based fintech to issue the first-ever blockchain-based digital security issued by a Chinese financial institution. One of the “Big Four” banks in the People’s Republic of China, CCB is ranked the second-largest bank worldwide by total assets as of fall 2020. The megabank’s plan with the new blockchain-based debt issuance is to raise up to $3 billion in total, starting with a tranche of $58 million, from individuals and institutions. The digital bonds will be issued through an offshore branch of CCB in Labuan, Malaysia, at a minimum of as little as $100 …

October is a time for surprises. On Oct. 8, right on cue, mobile payments giant Square, which boasts a market cap of $86.6 billion, announced that it had invested $50 million in Bitcoin (BTC). Five days later, asset manager Stone Ridge Holdings, which manages over $10 billion in assets, disclosed that it had purchased more than 10,000 BTC, worth around $114 million, as part of its treasury reserve strategy. They both followed MicroStrategy, a Nasdaq-listed asset manager, which made known last month that it had accumulated $425 million in Bitcoin, making BTC the principal holding in its treasury reserve strategy. …

The Bank of Thailand launched the world’s first blockchain-based government savings bond issuance platform using IBM’s blockchain technology. Within two weeks of the launch, the central bank sold more than $1.6 billion worth of savings bonds, as per IBM’s official announcement on Oct. 5, 2020. The use of blockchain technology is said to have reduced the bond issuance time from 15 days to just two days. The increased efficiency of the process has also reduced operational cost and redundant validation of documents involved in bond issuance. IBM along with the central bank collaborated with seven other institutions including Public Debt …

Singapore Exchange (SGX), a major investment holding company in Singapore, has issued its first digital bond powered by blockchain technology. As officially announced on Sept. 1, SGX deployed its digital asset issuance platform to conduct a 400 million Singapore dollar ($294 million) 5.5-year public bond issuance for major local food and agri-business company, Olam International. Focused on Asia bond markets, the new digital bond was enabled by cooperation with SGX’s established blockchain partners like HSBC Singapore and investment firm Temasek. As part of the joint initiative, HSBC provided its on-chain payments solution allowing instant settlement in multiple currencies to handle …

Bitcoin’s correlation with traditional assets has grown in the last few months, mainly due to the ongoing, unprecedented macro-economic situation. How strong are these correlations and how are they changing the way that users trade crypto in general? Veteran traders Scott Melker and Michaël van de Poppe will be discussing how to correctly read traditional markets to trade Bitcoin in this week’s episode of Crypto Markets Live. As usual, viewers will be able to interact with our guests by submitting questions to the chat. The Crypto Market Show Live is hosted every Thursday by Cointelegraph. It brings together the best …

United States government bonds, considered perhaps as the safest assets in the world, are now losing money to the investors holding them. According to statistics published by the U.S Treasury, real yields on even the longest-term bonds fell below zero since June 2020. A “real” yield calculates the yearly return on holding a bond and collecting interest payments, adjusted for inflation. Bonds are traditionally considered the safest way of storing wealth without it being eaten by inflation. Their perceived safety relies on the belief that the U.S. government will never default on its debt, especially because the bonds are denominated …

On July 19, the Philippine Bureau of the Treasury along with the UnionBank and Philippine Digital Asset Exchange launched a blockchain-enabled mobile application for distributing government-issued treasury bonds. According to local news outlet Inquirer.Net, the president and CEO of UnionBank, Edwin R. Bautista, claimed it was Asia’s “first retail treasury bond issuance to leverage on blockchain technology.” Bringing bonds investment to the unbanked According to estimates, almost 77% of adults in the Philippines still do not possess a bank account. The mobile application dubbed Bonds.PH is particularly aimed at providing easy investment options to the unbanked population of the country. …