Share this article
HSBC, SGX to Investigate if DLT Offers Efficiency Boost for Bond Markets
A new trial will examine if digitalizing fixed income securities with DLT can bring new efficiencies to the Asian markets.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 11:42 a.m. Published Nov 13, 2019, 9:52 a.m.
Can digitalizing bonds with distributed ledger technology (DLT) bring benefits to market participants?
That's a question being asked by HSBC Singapore in a new trial being developed in partnership with Singapore Exchange (SGX) and investment firm Temasek.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The effort will examine the potential of DLT to streamline the issuance and servicing of fixed income securities, debt instruments that pay fixed interest to investors, with a specific focus on the Asian bond markets.
In an announcement on Wednesday, HSBC sets out that, while the Asian bond markets have been seeing speedy growth, issuance and servicing of the instruments lack efficiency without a single platform for sharing data between different entities and tracking bonds across their lifecycle.
The trial aims to address that shortfall by tokenizing bonds using smart contracts on a permissioned ledger with the intention of streamlining these processes and easing friction in the markets. Ultimately, DLT could cut costs for issuers, investors, bond arrangers and custodians, the bank said.
HSBC is already deep in the blockchain and DLT space, having launched numerous projects involving the tech and often speaking out in advocacy. Last year the bank warned that "digital islands" could inhibit global blockchain-based trade. An exec also called on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to make more “positive noise” about DLT to encourage reluctant businesses into using the tech.
While all this seems extremely bullish on the technology, Tony Cripps, HSBC Singapore CEO, argued that DLT's potential to reduce inefficiencies in the fixed income market still has to be determined. "Only by collaborating with market participants will we fully understand its actual viability," he said.
"Having HSBC and Temasek on board will enable us to evaluate holistically whether smart contracts and DLT can solve some of the long-standing challenges in the fixed income issuance ecosystem,” said Lee Beng Hong, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities at SGX.
HSBC Singapore image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin Swings Wildly as Fed's Powell Straddles Labor Market and Inflation Issues
"Powell is threading the needle between their two mandates," said one analyst.
What to know:
- Crypto prices were volatile on Wednesday, erasing much of their gains following the Fed's rate cut earlier.
- In his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell took note of a labor market that might be weaker than previously thought, while also sounding cautious about gains made in fighting inflation.
Top Stories
