October 5, 2017

De-Dollarization & Disintermediation - Russian Mobile Phone Operator Issues First Blockchain-Backed Bond

Russian Mobile phone operator, Megafon, issued RUB500 million in zero-coupon blockchain-based bonds recently. This was purely a proof of concept issuance.

But, it speaks to the bigger picture of bypassing traditional book runners, i.e. the major banks, for selling securities to investors. No longer does Goldman Sachs, Standard Charted, HSBC and Deutsche Bank have a stranglehold on how capital is raised for emerging markets.

Moreover, it will prove just how much of an advantage the blockchain has over these older and much more expensive business models. 

This reduces the cost of a bond issuance to practically nothing, beyond the needed legal work. 

These bonds can and will be sold without the need for the middle man to take a huge cut.

The blockchain is changing everything.

This news also puts paid the news from a couple of months back that the National Settlement Depository is moving, via the WAVES platform, to token-ize as much of the Russian economy as it can. This is your first example of their integrating with the Moscow Exchange to trade securities via the blockchain.

Read the entire article

No comments:

Post a Comment