Korean trading giant POSCO International has been involved in two significant blockchain initiatives in the past week. On 28 April it issued a HKD 780 million ($100 million) digital bond in Hong Kong and separately partnered Hana Financial Group and Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, for cross border payments.
The two year digital bond was issued using the HSBC Orion blockchain platform with the bank acting as sole lead manager in the private placement. It follows the first Korean digital bond issued by Mirae Asset Securities on Orion in January. The issuance benefits from subsidies currently being offered by the government to issuers of digital bonds. Neither of the Korean firms have outstanding conventional issuances in Hong Kong, so the incentives are working.
POSCO said the digital issuance reduced the receipt of funds from five days for a conventional bond to three days. The bond issuance marks an acceleration of its engagement in digital finance, including smart contracts and security tokens. True to its word, the day after issuance it announced the Dunamu and Hana Financial deal.
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