The World Bank has announced that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)-backed blockchain bond has raised more than $80 million. This figure means that the first-ever blockchain bond has exceeded its fundraising expectation. Seven investors put up equity in the blockchain bond targeted at helping the World Bank to support economic progress endeavors in developing nations around the world.
CBA Raises $80.48 Million
According to Reuters, Bond-i, the World Bank-issued blockchain bond has raised 110 million AUD ($80.48 million). Officials at the World Bank are excited by the performance of bond seeing as it exceeded the $79 million target set before it went on sale. Commenting on the performance of bond-i, World Bank Treasurer, Arunma Oteh, said:
I am delighted that this pioneer bond transaction using the distributed ledger technology, bond-i, was extremely well received by investors.
Seven organizations invested in the Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument (bond-i). These seven were the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Northern Trust, First State Super (a local pension fund), as well as three different state governments in Australia. Oteh, expressed delight with the popularity of the bond among investors, saying:
We are particularly impressed with the breadth of interest from official institutions… these high-quality investors understood the value of leveraging technology for innovation in capital markets.
The Emergence of Blockchain Bonds
According to James Wall, the executive general manager of the Commonwealth Bank, one of the purposes of the bond was as a test run to see how well the technology would function. Wall also said that the World Bank plus the retinue of investors were keen on seeing how well blockchain technology could improve the bond sales process. The bank’s general manager also went on to echo the sentiments of the World Bank Treasurer in saying that the experiment was a success.
Bond-i is the first step in the process of moving the sale of bonds from manual processes to a more efficient and cost-effective automated process that runs on a secure blockchain framework. This development is yet another testament to the immense potential inherent in blockchain technology. Many experts believe it to be one of the most exciting emerging technologies in the modern world.
What do you think about the success of bond-i and the impact it could have on fundraising via the sale of debt instruments across the globe? Keep the conversation going in the comment section below.
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