On Friday,Ā UBS Wealth ManagementĀ announced it issued $50 million in blockchain-based debt securities to high net worth individuals (HNWIs). Hong Kong and Singapore investors bought the six month, fixed-rate security tokens via a private placement.
āWe registered strong interest for this inaugural issue from regional high net worth individuals and family offices, which underscores their interest in digital securities,ā said Amy Lo, co-head of UBS Global Wealth Management APAC.
The London office of UBS issued the securities under English and Swiss law. While UBS is the issuer, it will explore third-party issuers in the future. The project used a permissioned version of Ethereum.
This follows last monthāsĀ $370 million blockchain bondĀ issuance on the SIX Digital Exchange.
Meanwhile, numerous digital securities and tokenization platforms are being launched in Asia.
Singapore leads the way with local stock exchange SGX backing multiple platforms such asĀ ADDXĀ andĀ Marketnode. Singaporeās biggest bankĀ DBSĀ has issued aĀ tokenized bondĀ using its platform and JapanāsĀ SBI Digital MarketsĀ has a presence in Singapore and is looking to issue digital bonds.Ā
Japan is the home to several token issuance platforms. One of them isĀ MUFGās ProgmatĀ which has already been involved in several security token issuances, particularly around real estate.Ā
Nomura co-founded theĀ BOOSTRYĀ blockchain platform with ibet software for bond issuance. Itās working with the Tokyo Stock Exchange operator JPX onĀ green bond issuance.
In Hong Kong the government is exploring blockchain-based green bonds.