Slovenia is the first country in the EU to issue the digital sovereign bond

The Republic of Slovenia has issued its first digital sovereign bond, becoming the first country in Europe to do so. It is part of a pilot program of the European Central Bank (ECB) regulation. 

Slovenia: the first country in Europe to issue a digital sovereign bond

The Republic of Slovenia has issued its first digital sovereign bond, becoming the first country in Europe to do so. 

.@govSlovenia became the first European Union state to issue a sovereign digital bond. @camomileshumba reportshttps://t.co/FHKcpThsZc

— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) July 29, 2024

“@govSlovenia is the first State of the European Union to issue a digital sovereign bond.”

In practice, it is a pilot program of the European Central Bank (ECB) regulation with wholesale central bank money (CeBM). A wholesale CBDC is a digital token designed to be used by financial institutions rather than consumers.

Specifically, the press release states that the bond settlement was carried out on-chain in wholesale CBDC, through the Banque de France (BdF) interoperable and tokenized cash solution (DL3S).

Not only that, participating as the global coordinator and sole bookrunner is BNP Paribas, through its private tokenization platform built with Daml by Digital Asset, which leverages the Canton blockchain.

Slovenia and the first digital sovereign bond in Europe

The new digital sovereign bond of the Republic of Slovenia has been issued with a nominal size of 30 million euros, a coupon of 3.65%, and a final maturity on November 25, 2024.

This first digital bond in Europe represents a historic operation and a worldwide example for other countries. 

In this regard, the Slovenian government wanted to clarify that it is committed to experimenting with the use of new technologies in the management of central administration debt and in the financial market in general.

And then he added:

“These initial transactions and experiments with the tokenized wholesale central bank currency represent an important stepping stone towards greater transparency and efficiency in financial markets with a broader adoption of the technology. Although currently of little relevance in financial markets in terms of value issued and/or traded, we expect the importance of distributed ledger technology to grow significantly in the coming years.”

The capital of crypto enthusiasts

Already in October 2023, Slovenia emerged as the capital of crypto enthusiasts worldwide.

To define it this way was the result of the study conducted by Marketplace Fairness, which had analyzed the intensity of searches on ten different cryptocurrencies, crypto-exchanges, and blockchain technologies. 

The study would have identified the nations where enthusiasm for crypto is more pronounced globally, creating a ranking. 

And so, while Slovenia was in first place, right behind on the podium were Ireland and then the United States.