Singapore-based fintech BondEvalue has conducted the first trades on its blockchain-based debt trading platform, providing retail investors with access to fractional ownership of bonds in smaller denominations of $1000.
Investors using the platform can buy and sell 'BondbloX', which are $1,000 fractions of traditional wholesale bonds, via their bank or broker.
The first trade was between a Singapore citizen and a buyer who is a Singapore permanent resident. The transaction was for $8,000 of BondbloX representing the underlying1 Olam 4.375% bond maturing 2023 at a price of 100.25%, executed through Taurus Wealth Advisors, the first member of BBX.
Settlement on BBX is on a T+0 basis, and trades incur a flat $2 fee alongside a platform fee of 20 basis points annually. BBX partners may also charge a commission for each transaction.
Alongside Taurus Wealth, the firm has signed up Northern Trust as custodian and one of Singapore’s largest brokerages, UOB Kay Hian.
Established by former traders at Citi and DBS Bank, BondEvalue was the first company in the bond industry to be approved under the MAS regulatory sandbox, from which it is preparing to obtain the necessary regulatory approval to exit as a recognised market operator in the coming weeks.
BondEvalue’s founder and CEO, Rahul Banerjee, says: “We believe BondbloX will be an industry game changer. Our vision is to have over 25 million people in Asia invest in bonds in the next five years, from 500,000 individuals currently."