BOCI issues tokenized securities on Ethereum in Hong Kong.

The investment banking division of the Bank of China, known as BOCI, has issued tokenized securities on the Ethereum blockchain in Hong Kong, according to a press release on Monday. BOCI made available CNH 200 million ($28 million) worth of structured notes, with Swiss bank UBS underwriting the issuance and placing them with clients in the Asia Pacific region. The press release stated that this was the first time a Chinese financial institution had issued tokenized securities on a public blockchain in Hong Kong. Major banks, including Citigroup and Bank of America, have suggested that tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), traditional financial products such as notes and bonds, could boost the adoption of cryptocurrency and inject trillions of dollars in value into blockchains. This BOCI transaction also highlights Hong Kong’s increasing ambition to become a significant hub for cryptocurrency, particularly as the industry faces growing regulatory pressure in the United States. Shortly after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase for offering unregistered securities, Hong Kong legislator Johnny Ng invited digital asset trading platforms, including Coinbase, to establish a presence in the city. “We are encouraged by the evolution of Hong Kong’s digital economy and are committed to promoting the digital transformation and innovative development of Hong Kong’s financial industry,” said Ying Wang, Deputy Chief Executive at BOCI, in a statement. Edited by Stephen Alpher.