Marshall Islands | Crypto

The transaction used the Marshall Islands-issued USDM1 bond as collateral and completed the full repo cycle on the Canton Network in under 10 minutes. Virtu Financial, M1X Global and Tradeweb completed an onchain repo transaction using a sovereign digital bond as collateral, with the full transaction settling on the Canton Network. The transaction used USDM1, a US dollar-denominated sovereign bond issued onchain by the Republic of the Marshall Islands and backed 1:1 by short-term US Treasurys. The bond pays a coupon while being used as collateral and is structured under New York law as a fully collateralized sovereign obligation. Both companies said it was the first repo to combine natively issued sovereign collateral with fully onchain atomic settlement. Executed between regulated counterparties on Tradeweb, the full repo and repurchase cycle was completed in under 10 minutes. Read more

Despite an IMF warning regarding the potential risks, the Marshall Islands is proceeding with a partnership which could expand its digital sovereign bond to institutional markets. Update (March 25 8:22PM UTC): This article has been updated to clarify the role of M1X Global in the first paragraph. The technology provider building the infrastructure for the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ universal basic income (UBI) program which will use a US dollar-pegged sovereign financial instrument has attracted some significant crypto-tied backers. In a Tuesday notice shared exclusively with Cointelegraph, M1X Global announced that it had launched following a $3 million angel investment round by current and former executives connected to crypto and financial services companies. Read more

The launch of the UBI program, utilizing a “digital sovereign bond,” occurred two months after the IMF warned against the island nation using an “untested” digital asset. Update (Nov. 18 at 12:10 am UTC): This article has been updated to include a statement from David Paul. The Republic of the Marshall Islands announced that it would allow citizens to access funds through a government-issued digital asset as part of the nation’s Universal Basic Income (UBI) program. In a Wednesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the government of the Pacific island nation said it had launched a digital wallet called Lomalo, which will utilize the US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDM1 to enable citizens to access the UBI program. According to the government, the first disbursement of funds will occur in late November, allowing citizens to access them through their wallet, by physical check, or via direct deposit. Read more