India Set to Debut First Tokenized Bond in September, Offering Up to $57M

India is preparing to roll out its first tokenized bond, as regulators and the central bank push ahead with a blockchain-based pilot for issuance and settlement, Reuters reported, cited by ChainThink. The inaugural offering is scheduled for August 25 and will be issued by REC, the state-owned power sector financing company. The deal size is expected to be under 5 billion rupees, or about $57 million. The tokenized bond is expected to be introduced publicly at the annual fintech conference in Mumbai in September, with initial access limited to a select group of investors. Participation will require wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallets alongside electronic securities wallets. India's depository is developing a new electronic wallet, DEMT 2.0, designed to record bond holdings on a distributed ledger. The bond will have an initial three-month tenor. Secondary trading will be restricted to participants with compatible CBDC and securities wallets. Officials expect a secondary market for tokenized bonds to take shape by December, with trading occurring outside traditional electronic trading platforms.