World Bank (WB) has authorized Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to issue the world’s first bonds on the blockchain technology basis, says a joint press release of the banks.

The new debt instrument based on blockchain will be called “bond-i”. It will be launched after consultations with a wide range of investors who are interested in it. The blockchain platform for “bond-i” was developed by the CBA Blockchain center of advanced technologies.

World Bank has been operating in the debt capital markets for 70 years and it issues bonds in the amount of $50-60 billion annually. The Bank was the first in the world to issue an electronic bond (e-bond) in January 2000.