Philippines Launches Innovative Tokenized Treasury Bonds to Raise P10 Billion

The Philippines is set to make a groundbreaking move in its financial sector with the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) launch of the country’s first tokenized Treasury bonds (TTBs). Aiming to raise P10 billion, these peso-denominated TTBs represent a significant leap towards integrating digital technology into government securities. The offering, scheduled for November 20, is exclusively targeted at qualified institutional buyers.

These one-year fixed-rate government securities, paying semi-annual coupons, will be issued as digital tokens. This innovative approach reflects the government’s commitment to embracing digitalization in the bond market, as part of its Government Securities Digitalization Roadmap. The TTBs, offered in minimum denominations of P10 million and increments of P1 million, will be maintained in the BTr’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Registry. This registry will run parallel to the National Registry of Scripless Securities (NRoSS), which serves as the primary registry.

The introduction of TTBs is expected to democratize investment in government securities by lowering settlement risks and friction costs, ultimately contributing to a financially inclusive local bond market. Experts believe this modernization of government securities infrastructure using DLT will offer more investment alternatives to the public and further develop the capital markets with cutting-edge technology.

The BTr Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana indicated that this initial offering to institutional investors is a precursor to future plans that may include tokenization for retail bonds, aiming to attract more digital investors. This initiative aligns with the global trend of digitizing financial instruments and signals a progressive shift in the Philippines’ approach to financial markets​​.