Thailand launches blockchain platform for government bonds

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Thailand launches blockchain platform for government bonds

By Benson Toti - min read

Government bonds worth up to 50 million Baht have sold out in the first week after launch

The Central Bank of Thailand announced that just one week after it launched a new platform for issuing government savings bonds with integrated blockchain technology, 50 billion Baht (around $1.6 billion) in government bonds have already been sold out.

The platform, which is a finished product of the DLT Scripless Bond Project, was a collaborative effort between eight institutions: the Central Bank of Thailand, the Office of Public Debt Management, Thailand Securities Depository, the Thai Bond Market Association, and four selling-agent banks which are the Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.

The press release, entitled New Government Bond Infrastructure Launched With Blockchain Technology, details the importance of blockchain technology in improving the quality of service for customers.

“The investors would benefit from receiving bonds faster and purchasing bonds up to the individual quota from a single bank,” the announcement explained.

“The project would also help service providers to reduce operational complexity and lower the overall cost of bond issuance.”

In the next phase of the project, there are plans to expand the infrastructure, which would enable support for all different government bonds.

Thailand has been working steadily towards reorienting its bond market towards platforms that use blockchain technologies. In June of this year, the country’s finance ministry announced that they had plans to sell $6.42 million worth of low-face-value government savings bonds with the use of the state-owned Krung Thai Bank’s blockchain wallet.

Last month, the finance ministry also announced that the funds gathered from selling $1.6 billion in savings bonds would be funneled towards financing the government’s budgetary deficit.

Beyond the banking industry, Thailand’s largest court system is currently in the process of developing a blockchain storage network. The goal is to move all judicial information entirely online in time for its debut in the Thai Courts of Justice this 2021.

The Office of the Court of Justice confirmed that they are “actively developing” the blockchain network. Not much has been revealed on this new blockchain project and it remains unclear as to whether the country is building the network with help from the private sector. However, it appears to be well on its way to completion as the Thai judiciary is already training its officials on how to use it.

This is similar to the approach of several court in China that have already started moving reams of data onto the blockchain.