Hana Bank has issued South Korea's first digital bond utilizing Euroclear's blockchain platform. The $100 million foreign-currency bond issuance marks the first time a Korean financial institution has directly used the distributed-ledger infrastructure of the Brussels-based international depository.
According to the bank, the transaction settled on the issuance date, or T+0. This significantly shortened the settlement cycle compared to the traditional three to five business days typically required under conventional systems.
Euroclear issued the bond through its Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), which handles the issuance, registration, and settlement of securities on a distributed ledger. Institutional investors were able to purchase and trade the bond through their existing Euroclear accounts without needing separate systems, using documentation from Hana Bank's existing global medium-term note program. Standard Chartered served as the sole lead manager for the transaction.
A Hana Bank official stated that the issuance goes beyond diversifying funding channels by integrating blockchain technology into the capital market, adding that the institution plans to continue adopting advanced infrastructure and innovative funding solutions.
The issuance comes as South Korea prepares for the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to launch a comprehensive tokenized-securities framework in February 2027. The project demonstrates how Korean banks can utilize established global blockchain settlement infrastructure ahead of domestic regulatory implementations.
