The World Bank and The Commonwealth Bank of Australia have combined to create an Ethereum-based Australian dollar blockchain bond.
The bond project has a target of between USD 50 million and USD 100 million for sustainability projects. The World Bank issues between USD 5060 billion a year for project funding around the world.
With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
The World bank has three priorities in working with countries to end poverty and boost prosperity for the poorest people. It helps to create sustainable economic growth, the surest path out of poverty. It also invests in people, through access to health care, education, water and sanitation, and energy, building resilience to shocks and threats that can roll back decades of progress.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is one of the country’s big four banks and has been chosen to be responsible for the new blockchain bond after consulting with investors. Microsoft had carried out an independent review of the CBA’s blockchain platform which will run on the MS Azure cloud platform.
The World Bank sees blockchain as the ability to streamline its necessary processes simplifying the raising of funds and operational conditions. The banking giant issued its first global bond as far back as 1989 and the first electronic bond in 2000.
As for selecting both the CBA and Ethereum for the project, World Bank treasurer Arunma Oteh said that it had worked with the Australian bank for a year before it could launch the project. Ethereum was top of its list as it had “the largest and most active development community globally”.
The CBA has recently been very active in using blockchain for a number of its recent projects including a shipping project reported by Bitcoin News recently. The bank shipped 17 tons of almonds from Sunraysia to Hamburg, Germany using a newly-developed blockchain platform. The trial demonstrated the usefulness of blockchain technology in international supply chains by tracking the almonds every step of the way from packing in Australia to delivery in Germany.