BIS and Hong Kong Monetary Authority to Experiment With Tokenized Green Bonds

The tokenized green bonds are the Bank of International Settlements Innovation Hub's first green finance project.

Aug 25, 2021 at 4:51 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:44 p.m. UTC

ruslan-bardash-WMSvsWzhM0g-unsplash(1) — Hong Kong's skyline.

The Bank of International Settlements' Innovation Hub in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will look into how tokenized green bonds can spur sustainable investments, the BIS said in a statement Tuesday.

Under so-called Project Genesis, they will build a "prototype digital infrastructure," which will enable sustainable investments while improving transparency of how proceeds are used, the BIS, which is an organization run by the world's leading central banks, said.
Tokenizing the bonds through blockchain technology will allow investors to buy small denominations of the assets, which the institutions hope will boost investment. Investors can also track environmental output in real time, the statement said. The goal is to help companies meet global and regional environmental standards.
Swiss firm Digital Asset and its Hong Kong partner, GFT Technologies Hong Kong , will deploy "permissioned" blockchains, which are blockchains that can be accessed only by authorized users. The Liberty Consortium, which includes SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Bank and Shareable Asset, will deploy permissionless blockchains. Allinfra, a Hong Kong startup, will provide the data to track the environmental impact of projects in real time.
This is the first green finance project initiated by the BIS Innovation Hub, the statement said.

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