- Bank of Greece successfully tested a sovereign digital bond using distributed ledger technology, simulating the entire bond lifecycle.
- The central bank uniquely served as both the bond issuer and the central securities depository (CSD) in the trial, mimicking its real-world function in Greek markets.
- Settlement used a simulated delivery-versus-payment (DvP) system with tokenized euros, drawing on design principles from the European Central Bank’s Pontes initiative.
The Bank of Greece recently concluded a landmark digital bond issuance simulation called Project Sovereign, collaborating with the Frankfurt-based fintech SWIAT, according to the institution’s reports. This trial covered every stage of a bond’s life, from issuance to final redemption, under real market conditions with seven major financial institutions participating as simulated investors.
Berliner Volksbank, DekaBank, Eurobank, KfW, LBBW, National Bank of Greece, and Piraeus Bank all acted as investors in the exercise. Crucially, the Bank of Greece took on the dual role of sovereign issuer and central securities depository, a function it performs in the real world for Greek government bonds.
The simulation achieved settlement using a delivery-versus-payment (DvP) mechanism with tokenized EUR as the medium of exchange. Consequently, this approach was designed to align with the forthcoming Pontes wholesale digital payments initiative from the European Central Bank. Project Sovereign therefore represents a significant practical step toward a potential live implementation of digital sovereign bonds in Europe.
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