European Investment Bank Issues $121M Digital Notes Using Ethereum

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union, used Ethereum technology to issue €100 million ($121 million) in two-year digital notes for the first time, the EIB said in a statement.

• Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander SA and Societe Generale AG served as joint managers for the notes, issued on April 28.
• The EIB said the transaction is a series of bond tokens on a blockchain, where investors purchase and pay for the security tokens using traditional fiat.
• The notes have a zero percent coupon and will be registered on the blockchain, according to a Bloomberg report.
• The number of banks joining the club for state-backed blockchain bond issuance has been expanding. In September, according to reports, the Bank of Thailand launched a blockchain-enabled platform for the issuance of government saving bonds.
• In November, the China Construction Bank (CCB) tapped Labuan-based digital asset exchange Fusang for the issuance of $3 billion worth of debt securities over a blockchain.

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