Bitfinex Securities raised $30 million through the issuance of USTBL tokens representing short-term US Treasury bonds, leveraging El Salvador's digital asset regulatory framework.
Bitfinex Securities, a digital securities exchange affiliated with Tether, announced on November 19 that it is offering a public tokenized U.S. Treasury bond offering, leveraging El Salvador’s advanced digital asset regulatory framework. The offering marks a significant step forward in combining traditional finance with blockchain technology, opening up new investment opportunities for the global market.
The event was made possible through the issuance of a new token called USTBL by NexBridge Digital Financial Solutions, a digital asset issuer based in El Salvador. The USTBL token is designed to represent short-term US Treasury bonds denominated in USD, offering an expected annual yield of 5.02% until maturity.
The initial offering, which aims to raise a minimum of $30 million, begins on November 19 and runs through November 29, 2023. According to Bitfinex Securities, this is the first regulated offering involving access to tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds based on Bitcoin technology.
Take advantage of Liquid Network and El Salvador's legal framework
Bitfinex Securities has chosen the Liquid Network, Bitcoin's layer-2 solution, as the platform for issuing USTBL tokens. Using the Liquid Network helps optimize transaction speeds and reduce costs, while maintaining the security of the Bitcoin network.
All funds raised will be invested in the iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1yr UCITS ETF, a publicly traded ETF that tracks the performance of short-term U.S. government bonds. Investors will initially be able to purchase using Tether’s stablecoin USDT, with the option to use Bitcoin later. Following the subscription period, USTBL will be traded on Bitfinex Securities’ secondary market against USDT.
The offering is made possible by El Salvador's favorable regulatory environment for digital assets. Since the passage of the Digital Asset Securities Law in January 2023, El Salvador has attracted many blockchain businesses. Bitfinex Securities was granted a license to operate in El Salvador in April 2023, allowing the company to leverage this regulatory framework to issue USTBL tokens.
The legal framework allows companies to tokenize a wide range of assets, from funds, debt, equity to real estate, facilitating capital raising, project financing and investor returns.
In addition to yield at maturity, USTBL offers other benefits such as instant settlement, withdrawal to approved wallets, and over-the-counter (OTC) trading. The offering is aimed at all eligible investors, except those in North America and countries subject to sanctions.
