The World Bank and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) have banded together to enable secondary market trading on blockchain for its block-i bond—and apparently it will be the first of its kind.

The function was developed by CBA in conjunction with World Bank and market maker TD Securities. The ‘bond-i’ project (blockchain operated new debt instrument) is part of a broader strategic focus of the World Bank to harness the potential of disruptive technologies for development.

The bond-i blockchain platform was built and developed by the CBA Blockchain Centre of Excellence, housed in the Sydney Innovation Lab.

The World Bank issued bond-i in August 2018, which was the world’s first bond to be created, allocated, transferred and managed through its life cycle using distributed ledger technology.

Between US$50-US$60 billion annually is issued in bonds for sustainable development as part of its mandate to reduce poverty and promote lasting development.

Sophie Gilder, Head of Experimentation & Commercialisation, CBA Innovation Labs said:

“Since issuing bond-i in August last year, the positive feedback and interest from the technology and financial sector community globally has been extraordinary.”

“There is a growing recognition that blockchain technology can deliver a superior digital market for raising capital and then managing and trading securities, so we are working with our strategic partners to realise that vision.”