Among the institutions involved in the new venture is Taurus Wealth Advisors, along with Northern Trust and UOB Kay Hian. The exchange, its creators say, is designed to democratise access to secondary bond trading through the fractional ownership enabled by blockchain-type tech.

A Singapore-based fintech firm has trumpeted how the debut transaction on what it called the “world’s first” blockchain-based bond exchange was conducted this week (11 August), highlighting how distributed ledger technology is expanding.

BondEvalue has launched BondbloX Bond Exchange, or BBX, a platform that makes possible fractional ownership of bonds by allowing them to be traded in smaller denominations of $1,000.

The platform will enable more investors to buy and sell bonds, making bond trading much faster, highly transparent and at a lower cost, BondEvalue said in a statement. It argues that such a service overturns a market that, in Asia and Europe, has been traditionally the preserve of affluent individuals, corporations and institutions, and where unit size trades are $200,000 per trade in the secondary market.

The first trade today was between a Singapore citizen and a buyer who is a Singapore permanent resident. The transaction was for $8,000 of BondbloX representing the underlying Olam 4.375 per cent bond maturing 2023, executed through Taurus Wealth Advisors, the first member of BBX.

BondbloX is one of the first, if not the first bond depository receipt in the world, akin to a depository receipt for shares, the statement said.

Investors around the world can trade on BBX via web and mobile devices by opening an account with their banks, wealth managers, family offices or robo-advisors, subject to individual country restrictions on bond trading. In Singapore, BBX is open to accredited and institutional investors.

BondEvalue said it has signed up one of Singapore’s largest brokerages, UOB Kay Hian, as its initial launch partner, Northern Trust as designated custodian and multi-family office, and Taurus Wealth Advisors, as one of the first members of the exchange. More partners are in the pipeline and will be taken on board in the coming months.

"We believe BondbloX will be an industry game changer. Our vision is to have over 25 million people in Asia invest in bonds in the next five years, from 500,000 individuals currently. This is no small ambition but we are hopeful as we have seen millions of people, forced by COVID-19 lockdowns, going online in the last six months for their everyday transactions,” BondEvalue’s founder and CEO, Rahul Banerjee, said.