ABN AMRO issues the first Digital Bond with Fireblocks

The digital bond was issued to raise funds on behalf of APOC, an ABN AMRO commercial client in the aerospace industry.

January 13, 2023 - ABN AMRO, became the first bank in Europe to register a digital bond on the public blockchain, using Fireblocks. 

The new bond issuance creates a real world use cases of blockchain technology to traditional financial markets. Potentially showcasing new financing streams for commercial companies across all industries.
 

In October 2022, the Israel Ministry of Finance and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange issued a first-of-its-kind digital bond with Fireblocks underlining that it’s not just banks who have stepped up their adoption of blockchain technology.
 

Commenting on the issue, Edwin van Bommel Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer of ABN-AMRO said: “This updated digital solution for providing our medium-sized and larger commercial clients with leveraged financing fills a gap between traditional bonds and crowdfunding. Thanks to the blockchain, it’s highly efficient and very client-friendly.

A short summary of how ABN AMRO launched the digital bond is provided below:
 

1. The smart contract was created on the Stellar blockchain, using Bitbond’s technology.
2. ABN AMRO then utilized Fireblocks’ end-to-end tokenization platform to securely mint/burn, and custody the token, as well as to simplify digital asset treasury management processes.
3. Ownership of the bonds was recorded on the blockchain in the form of tokens that investors acquired after they had paid for the bond.

Michael Shaulov, CEO & co-Founder of Fireblocks stated “As the issuer and Sole Arranger of its first digital bond, ABN AMRO is setting a new bar for how traditional banks can better serve commercial clients using blockchain technology. Fireblocks is proud to support ABN AMRO with secure, highly-scalable foundational technology for the issuance of digital bonds.”