Societe Generale has issued its first unsecured digital green bond on the Ethereum Blockchain, with a value of 10 million euros and a maturity period of three years.
Societe Generale, the third-largest bank in France, has disclosed the issuance of its inaugural digital green bond on the Ethereum public blockchain in the form of a security token. On November 30, the bond that Forge, a subsidiary of Societe Generale, had registered went public.
The bond’s maturity is three years, and its face value is 10 million euros (approximately $11 million). Utilizing its net proceeds to finance or refinance products and companies that fall under the eligible green activities category constitutes its “green” status.
The bond’s smart contract provides continuous, unrestricted access to data regarding its carbon footprint via its digital infrastructure. As reported by the bank:
“This enables issuers and investors to measure the carbon emissions of their securities on the financial infrastructure.”
An additional innovation of the bond is a technical option for investors to resolve securities on-chain using EUR CoinVertible, a stablecoin pegged to the euro that Forge will issue in April 2023. With this alternative, Societe Generale anticipates the impending surge of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs):
“While Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) solutions are being experimented, this panel of settlement methods demonstrates the large capabilities of SG-FORGE in providing full spectrum of on-chain services.”
By issuing euro bonds on the Ethereum blockchain and security tokens on the Tezos blockchain, in addition to proposing Dai stablecoin loans in exchange for bond tokens, Societe Generale has been active in the cryptocurrency sector. Forge was the inaugural organization to secure the maximum access license for crypto services in France in July 2023.