The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) is continuing its focus on blockchain technology.
In its new initiative, the agency’s Innovation Hub has partnered with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to examine the possible impacts of tokenized green bonds.
Using Blockchain to Help the Planet
Also known as climate bonds, green bonds are fixed-income instruments linked to environmental and climate change solutions. They are usually asset-linked and backed by the balance sheet of the issuing entity. So, they tend to carry the same credit ratings as their issuers’ debts.
In its announcement, the BIS introduced Project Genesis, a collaboration with the HKMA to launch a prototype digital infrastructure. The project is expected to enable sustainable investments while examining the transparency of proceeds allocation. The agencies believe that blockchain-based bond tokenization will allow investors to buy small denominations of the assets, thus boosting investment.
Besides spurring investment, the tokenized green bonds will also allow investors to track environmental output in real-time. The objective is to help companies meet regional and global environmental standards.
Along with the BIS and HKMA, the tokenized green bonds project is in sync with several other partners. These include GFT Technologies Hong Kong, Swiss-based Digital Asset, the Liberty Consortium, and SC Ventures – the venture capital arm of British banking giant Standard Chartered.
These companies will deploy permissioned blockchains to assist the project. At the same time, Hong Kong-based start-up Allinfra will provide tracking data to help the partners monitor the projects’ real-time environmental impact.
The head of the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, Bénédicte Nolens, explained that the partners would enable investors to provide liquidity for safe government bonds that will go to a good cause by simply downloading an app. Thanks to blockchain capabilities, tracking the bonds and their performance will be transparent.
