Clearstream, DekaBank, and DZ Bank have jointly issued two tokenised €5 million bonds using distributed-ledger technology (DLT) as part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) trials. These trials, running from May to November 2024, aim to assess the feasibility of DLT for settling wholesale transactions in central bank money.
The transactions were executed on Deutsche Börse’s D7 DLT platform, encompassing both the security transactions and fund transfers using digital central bank money. Clearstream, DekaBank, and DZ Bank participated in these trials, with Clearstream providing the technical infrastructure via its D7 platform, developed in collaboration with Google Cloud. DekaBank and DZ Bank alternated roles as issuer and investor in the two bond issuances.
These transactions are the first institutional-grade issuances in Germany using DLT with wholesale digital central bank money, according to Clearstream. The integration of D7 with the Bundesbank Trigger Solution aligns the bond settlement with the European TARGET2 payment system, highlighting the potential for streamlined processes.
Silvio Lenk, head of treasury at DekaBank, emphasises the simplicity and benefits of using DLT technology alongside the Trigger Solution, which facilitates the delivery versus payment process. This interaction between private blockchains and wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) promises to enhance the speed, scalability, and security of issuing and settling securities.
