Italy's State-Owned Bank Trials Digital Bonds on Polygon Blockchain
Overview
On July 18 2024, Italy's state-owned bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti ApA revealed that it had completed a $27,2 million digital bond issuance with trillion-dollar investment bank Intesa Sanpaolo using Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 Polygon. Intesa Sanpaolo described that the transaction was part of a European Central Bank trial to identify new solutions for central bank money settlement of wholesale transactions carried out on blockchains. It marked the inaugural transaction following Italy's enactment of the FinTech decree law, which regulates the issuance and circulation of digital financial instruments. This initiative marks a pivotal moment in traditional finance integrating with decentralised technologies, potentially reshaping the future of capital markets. Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, said, "I enjoyed this. Even if I disagree, it made for a good panel discussion."
