Philippines to Offer Tokenized Treasury Bonds for the First Time
The Philippines Bureau of the Treasury has announced that it will be offering 10 billion pesos ($179 million) of one-year tokenized treasury bonds. This is a significant shift from the traditional auction that was scheduled for Nov. 20, which has been canceled.
These tokenized bonds will be made available to institutional buyers in minimum denominations of 10 million pesos, with increments of 1 million pesos. The bonds will have a validity period of one year and will be due in November 2024. The final interest rate for these bonds will be disclosed on the issuance date, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The issuance of these tokenized bonds will be facilitated by the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Deputy Treasurer Erwin Sta mentioned that the government will continue to study the technology and test how far they can take it when asked about exploring continuous use of tokenized real-world assets and bonds.
Growing Interest in Tokenized Bond Market
This move by the Philippines comes at a time when there is a growing interest among Asian governments in the tokenized bond market. Hong Kong issued $100 million in tokenized green bonds under its Green Bond Programme earlier this year, using Goldman Sachs’ tokenization protocol. Singapore has also launched pilots on tokenizing real-world assets in partnership with major banks, while the United Arab Emirates has teamed up with HSBC to carry out the tokenization of bonds.
Israel’s Tel Aviv stock exchange has also completed a proof-of-concept for tokenizing fiat and government bonds. The trend of blockchain-based real-world asset tokenization has gained momentum, with financial giants like JPMorgan and HSBC showing interest in this space.
Hot Take: Embracing Tokenized Bonds
The move by the Philippines to offer tokenized treasury bonds reflects a broader trend among governments and financial institutions in Asia and beyond. Embracing blockchain technology for issuing tokenized assets and bonds signals a shift towards more efficient and secure financial instruments. As more countries and institutions explore this space, it is clear that tokenization is set to play a significant role in shaping the future of financial markets worldwide.
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