Nivaura, a London-based fintech startup focused on tokenizing assets debts, equity, and structured notes have received notable investment from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) according to a Reuters report.
LSEG reportedly led a $20 million investment round recently conducted by Nivaura. According to the report, the exchange operators invested an undisclosed amount in exchange for a minority stake in the fintech firm. Santander InnoVentures, Banco Santander’s venture capital arm, also participated in Nivaura’s investment round.
According to information on its website, Nivura builds digital investment banking services to drive automation, compliance and improved client experience. It provides blockchain solutions in the areas of bond issuance, clearing, and settlement of financial instruments as well as tokenized securities.
The firm was behind the world’s first automated cryptocurrency-denominated bond issued in November 2017. The firm at the time participated in the regulatory sandbox provided by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This allowed it to navigate the legal and regulatory requirements.
According to Reuters, Nikhil Rathi, the head of internal development at LSEG said that the organization is seeking to leverage technology to develop new products, boost efficiency and support growth.
Nivaura claims that through its tokenization solution, it could reduce the time required to process financial instruments—from issuance to market—by as much as 80 percent. This would, in turn, reduce the cost for raising capital drastically.
As reported, the World Bank settled bond worth $73 million on the blockchain last August. The World Bank selected Australian bank, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) to issue its pioneering ‘Bond-I’ to be settled using blockchain technology.
The Bond-I, however, did not rely totally on blockchain. The actual payments were made off-chain through the existing SWIFT system while blockchain was used to automate the issuance process.
Similarly, Spanish bank BBVA issued a loan using blockchain technology for the first time in April of 2018. In December, the bank had closed a $169 million loan using blockchain with a non-Spanish borrower. More recently, BBVA reportedly launched the reportedly first blockchain-backed platform for structured green bonds.
According to crypto news outlet Cointelegraph, the bank closed a deal with Spanish insurance house Mapfre, which has invested 35 million euros (approximately $40 million) to finance sustainable products making it the first structured green bond using blockchain technology.
Riccardo Lopp is a writer specializing in Crypto, ethereum and whole blockchain ecosystem. His background is in economics and statistics.
