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KB Kookmin becomes first Korean bank to issue digital USD bond
KB Kookmin's $100M digital bond settled via HSBC's Orion, cutting settlement to three days. The bank now targets the HKMA grant scheme to offset costs. A milestone for institutional blockchain adoption.
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KB Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest lender, issued the country's first blockchain-based US dollar bond on June 10. The $100 million two-year note settled privately in Hong Kong, using HSBC's Orion platform and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's clearing system.
Traditional bond settlement takes about five days and involves multiple intermediaries. The digital bond aims to compress that window to three days through distributed ledger technology. HSBC has already processed over $3.5 billion in digital bonds through Orion, making it one of the more established institutional blockchain platforms.
KB Kookmin is the first Korean bank to issue a digital USD bond. It plans to participate in the HKMA's Digital Bond Grant Scheme, which offsets issuance costs for digital instruments. The bank is the banking arm of KB Financial Group, one of South Korea's largest financial conglomerates.