Germany’s state-owned development bank, NRW.BANK has issued a €100 million blockchain-based bond on the Polygon network, signaling a significant step for institutional finance in digital assets. Launched under Germany’s Electronic Securities Act (eWpG), the two-year bond was registered using Cashlink Technologies’ licensed crypto infrastructure, with Deutsche Bank, DZ BANK, and DekaBank as lead managers.
This marks NRW.BANK’s first fully digital bond, part of a growing trend in Germany where the eWpG law (introduced in 2021) is fostering mainstream adoption of digital securities.
This bond issuance coincides with Polygon’s major Heimdall 2.0 proof-of-stake upgrade, which aims to improve network efficiency by reducing finality time and enhancing reliability. Germany is quickly becoming a hub for regulated digital asset innovation, with other major financial players like DZ BANK, Commerzbank, KfW, and Siemens also issuing blockchain-based bonds.
Beyond bonds, Germany‘s banking sector is expanding into crypto. Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe plans to enable Bitcoin and Ethereum trading by mid-2026, aligning with EU MiCA regulations. DZ Bank and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg are also growing their crypto custody and trading services for institutional clients.
Despite a market cap drop, Polygon remains a leader in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, hosting $343 million in tokenized assets and holding a 37.7% market share in tokenized bonds. Under CEO Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon is focusing on streamlining core services like stablecoin payments and RWA tokenization to become a backbone for institutional blockchain finance.
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