Doha Bank has finalized a $150 million digital bond that was instantly settled on Euroclear’s distributed ledger technology, highlighting that regulated DLT systems, as opposed to public blockchains, are becoming the favored platforms for institutional tokenized debt.
The Qatari institution has listed its digitally native bonds on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market, facilitating same-day settlement via Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure, a permissioned DLT platform managed by a central securities depository.
Standard Chartered acted as the exclusive global coordinator and arranger for the transaction, overseeing the structuring, execution, and distribution of Doha Bank’s $150 million digital bond.
More banks and regulators across the Middle East and Asia are increasingly adopting permissioned DLT platforms for digital bond issuance to maintain regulatory compliance. At the same time, selective applications, like DBS’s tokenized structured notes on Ethereum, indicate that public blockchains are also utilized where investor accessibility, programmability, and market design render openness effective.
“Doha Bank’s inaugural digital bond issuance illustrates the substantial real-world efficiencies that state-of-the-art digital infrastructure is bringing to capital markets, along with a growing demand from our clients for this advanced capability and execution,” commented Salman Ansari, the bank’s global head of capital markets, in a statement.
Tailored for regulated markets
In contrast to public blockchains, which are open networks, Euroclear’s DLT is tailored for regulated capital markets, ensuring controlled access, legal finality, and compatibility with existing custody and settlement systems.
This framework enables issuers to benefit from the efficiency advantages of tokenization, such as T+0 settlement and automated record keeping, while staying aligned with international market standards and institutional investor needs.
“This transaction highlights that immediate execution and settlement are attainable through a neutral, regulated DLT framework that conforms to established market standards – minimizing friction and time while upholding the assurance level expected by issuers and investors,” stated Sebastien Danloy, chief business officer at Euroclear.
The transaction fits into a wider regional initiative to modernize capital markets infrastructure rather than developing parallel crypto-native systems.
Orion, created by HSBC, has been utilized for sovereign and corporate digital bonds in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Middle East, and is designed to connect seamlessly with existing post-trade infrastructure such as Euroclear, Clearstream, and Hong Kong’s Central Moneymarkets Unit.
This interoperability enables issuers to attain quicker settlement and on-chain record keeping while ensuring custody, listing, and investor access remain anchored in familiar market frameworks.
Onyx, now part of JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform, fulfills a similar function for bank-issued debt and commercial paper, allowing complete issuance and near-instant settlement with tokenized cash.
Standard Chartered indicated that the deal signifies a growing client demand for digital issuance.
Collectively, the deal contributes to a rising portfolio of digital bond issuance across the Middle East and Asia, where banks and regulators are progressively advancing tokenization from trial projects into operational markets by incorporating DLT into existing capital markets infrastructure instead of overhauling it.
