NRW Bank, a development bank owned by Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, has issued blockchain-based bonds worth 100 million euros, making it one of the largest public sectors moving to digital securities in Europe.
The two-year bond was issued on the Polygon (POL) blockchain and registered through the infrastructure of Cashlink Technologies, a cryptocurrency securities registrar licensed by German financial regulator Bafin.
This is the first bond issuance of NRW Bank as a complete digital crypto security under the German Electronic Securities Act (EWPG), allowing bonds to exist only on the blockchain without the need for physical certificates.
Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank and Dekabank participated in the issuance as co-lead managers.
“This is not just a technical milestone. It’s a sign that public financial institutions are ready to go beyond blockchain pilot projects and integrate these systems at scale.”
The EWPG Act, which came into effect in 2021, provided a legal basis for recording securities in Germany’s distributed ledger technology (DLT), and was one of the largest capital markets.
*This is not investment advice.