Two leading technology companies, Siemens and Samsung, have made significant advancements in the crypto sector, showcasing their commitment to innovation and digital transformation.
Siemens Launches €300 Million Digital Bond
Siemens, the German technology giant, recently launched its second digital bond worth €300 million on a public blockchain. The bond, with a maturity period of one year, was settled using SWIAT’s private permissioned blockchain and the Bundesbank’s Trigger Solution. DekaBank served as the bond registrar, while BayernLB, DZ BANK, Helaba, and LBBW participated as investors. The settlement in central bank money was facilitated by Deutsche Bank.
Siemens emphasized that the transaction was completed in a fully automated manner within minutes and in central bank money. The bond issuance was carried out under Germany’s Electronic Securities Act, eliminating the need for physical certificates. Additionally, Siemens mentioned that this digital bond also supports the European Central Bank’s tests of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for settling securities with central bank money.
This latest bond issuance follows Siemens’ initial venture into the digital bond market with a €60 million issuance in February 2023. Ralf P. Thomas, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens AG, expressed the company’s commitment to innovation by stating, “By issuing another digital bond, we are demonstrating once again our spirit of innovation and underscoring our aim to continuously drive digital solutions for the financial markets.”
Samsung Invests in Web3 Startup Startale Labs
Samsung Next, the venture capital arm of South Korean tech giant Samsung, has made an undisclosed investment in Singapore-based Startale Labs as part of the Soneium Spark program. The investment was made due to Startale Labs’ provision of essential tools and infrastructure for developing and deploying decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts, such as Astar Network, Soneium, and Startale Cloud Services.
John Yim, an investor at Samsung Next, highlighted that Startale Labs’ solutions address key barriers in the Web3 space, including high entry costs, lack of interoperability, and technical complexity. These solutions aim to make Web3 technologies more accessible and scalable for developers and businesses.
Startale Labs’ founder, Sota Watanabe, outlined the company’s strategy of engaging with a broader audience beyond the Web3 space. He emphasized the importance of understanding existing problems and leveraging Web3 technologies to address them. Watanabe stated, “All technical solutions should be driven by the problems, not by the tech itself.”
These recent developments by Siemens and Samsung underscore their commitment to driving innovation and embracing the potential of blockchain technology and Web3 solutions in the digital era.