France’s 3rd Largest Bank Launches Tokenized Debt on Tezos

Société Générale, the globe’s 17th largest bank, today announced the launch of a tokenized euro medium-term note (EMTN) on the Tezos blockchain. 

Société Générale Continues Crypto Experimentation

“This new experimentation, performed in accordance with best market practices, demonstrates the legal, regulatory and operational feasibility of issuing more complex financial instruments (structured products) on public blockchain,” reads marketing materials from the French bank.

Forge, Société Générale’s subsidiary, led the launch. The sub-group is just one of the many groups responsible for the bank’s entrance into the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. 

An EMTN is a debt instrument distinct from bonds. In this particular experiment, the bank has turned the EMTN into a security token using the Tezos blockchain. In a previous experiment, the bank issued €100 million (~$119 million) in bonds as a security token on the Ethereum blockchain. 

The institution explored this issuance due to its potential to “reduce costs and the number of intermediaries.”

In September 2020, Société Générale announced that they would work with Tezos for France’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) experiment. 

Tezos’ native asset, XTZ, is currently trading hands at $6.43.

Disclosure: The author held ETH at the time of press.