The Czech National Bank (CNB) issued its first koruna-denominated bonds in tokenized form using distributed ledger technology (DLT), announcing the operation on November 10, 2026. The issuance was carried out through CNB Lab, the bank’s in-house innovation unit, on the DLT platform of CSD Prague, the central securities depository and the first infrastructure in the European Union to receive a license under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime. Over October and November 2026, the CNB tested the full life cycle of the bonds, covering simple transfers, purchases and sales against payment, interest disbursements and repo transactions, all of which settled nearly instantaneously. Each bond had a nominal value of CZK 10,000, with total test volumes of tens of thousands of koruna and ÄŒeská spoÅ™itelna as the sole commercial bank counterparty. The CNB also purchased a euro-denominated government bond that exists exclusively on DLT as part of its reserve management testing. Governor AleÅ¡ Michl framed the project around two goals: making koruna assets more liquid and easier to trade relative to alternatives such as German Bunds, and ensuring that settlement relies on central bank money rather than private instruments.
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