German State-Owned Development Bank Issues €100 Million Blockchain Bond

Germany’s state-owned development bank NRW.BANK has issued a €100 million ($116.7 million) blockchain-based bond, marking one of the largest public-sector entries into digital securities in Europe.

The two-year bond was launched on the Polygon blockchain and registered using the infrastructure of Cashlink Technologies, a BaFin-licensed crypto securities registrar. It represents NRW.BANK’s first fully digital bond issued under Germany’s Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), which permits bonds to be created and transferred entirely on blockchain networks without requiring a physical certificate.

Strong institutional participation

The bond drew participation from major institutional players, with Deutsche Bank, DZ BANK, and DekaBank serving as joint lead managers. The level of demand highlights the growing interest in tokenized financial instruments, which offer faster settlement, greater transparency, and reduced administrative costs. Michael Duttlinger, CEO of Cashlink, emphasized the broader implications of the move: “This is more than a technical milestone. It’s a signal that public financial institutions are ready to move beyond blockchain pilots and start integrating these systems at scale.”

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Other major blockchain finance deals this week

This significant issuance comes amid a wave of other major tokenized finance deals in Europe. According to Reuters, Siemens issued a €60 million digital bond on Polygon earlier this week, further solidifying the network’s relevance for institutional-grade products.

In France, asset manager AXA IM announced the tokenization of a segment of its green bond portfolio, aiming to improve traceability and ESG reporting through blockchain. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that BNP Paribas has partnered with Chainlink to test multi-chain transfers of tokenized funds—a potential step toward interoperable fund infrastructure. Together, these developments reflect an accelerating trend: regulated institutions are now moving from experimentation to real-world deployment of blockchain in capital markets.

Kosta Gushterov

Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.