World Bank and CBA announce ‘pioneering’ blockchain bond on Ethereum

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has won a mandate from the World Bank to become the sole arranger of a bond created, allocated, transferred and managed using distributed ledger technology.

The bond-i blockchain platform was built and developed by the CBA Blockchain Centre of Excellence. World Bank infrastructure for the bond will run in Washington, D.C. on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform and it will be issued and managed on a private Ethereum blockchain operated by the World Bank in the US and CBA in Australia.

The former issues between $50-$60 billion annually in bonds for sustainable development. The move is part of its efforts to increase its focus on helping countries transition to sustainable economies that are technology-led, while exploring the benefits of disruptive technologies, such as blockchain, across all its operations.

Milestone

Denis Robitaille, World Bank Group Chief Information Officer, says: “Helping countries transition to technology-led development is key to our goals of reducing poverty and promoting lasting development. This is at the heart of the World Bank’s Innovation Lab, and this pioneering bond is a milestone in our efforts to learn how we can advise our client countries on the opportunities and risk that disruptive technologies offer as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Sophie Gilder, Head of Blockchain, Innovation Labs, CBA says: “We know blockchain has the potential to revolutionise financial services and markets, and this transaction is a significant step towards that future state. By working collaboratively with the World Bank, we were able to find solutions to technical and legal considerations to make this ground-breaking transaction a reality. This project further solidifies CBA’s position at the forefront of blockchain technology and we are excited to build on this, in partnership with our clients.”