Sygnum, a digital asset finance firm with a Swiss banking license, has tokenized its shares on its own distributed ledger platform as it develops plans for a public offering.
- The firm said Monday that it has now become the first bank to use distributed ledger technology to issue digital representations of shares.
- For the issuance, Sygnum used its in-house developed Desygnate platform, which it said is compatible with a Swiss blockchain law coming into force from February 2021. The platform further associates the shares with their associated legal rights and obligations.
- The tokenization of shares provides investors with a "fully regulated, highly efficient and potentially more inclusive alternative" to traditional ways of raising capital, Sygnum said.
- The issuance lays the foundation for a potential dual listing of shares in Switzerland and Singapore in partnership with the SIX Digital Exchange.
- “We are excited to be the first bank in the world to tokenize our shares. This is an important milestone towards fulfilling our mission of creating more direct and efficient access to ownership and value,” said Mathias Imbach, Sygnum Bank's co-founder and group CEO designate.