Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF) said Wednesday it has successfully issued $200 million in digital bonds, marking the first such issuance by a Korean public institution.
Digital bonds have the same structure as conventional bonds but are issued, registered, traded, and settled using distributed ledger technology. HF issued the digital bonds through Orion, a tokenization platform linked to the clearing and settlement system of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). With the entire process handled in a blockchain environment, the bond settlement period was shortened to three business days from the conventional five, enhancing the stability and efficiency of fundraising.
The bond carries a two-year maturity, with the issuance rate set at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus a spread of 0.39 percentage point.
"This is a strategic effort that goes beyond diversifying funding sources to lead the transition to digital finance," an HF official said. "We will continue pursuing innovation to build a digital asset ecosystem, which is a key government policy agenda."
