Blockchain Initiatives Lift Off – PayPal Goes Live, Fusang Supports $3 Bond Issuance, and Vertalo Tokenizes Real Estate

This past week has seen various positive steps forward for companies working with blockchain technologies.  While, in the past, the sector has seen its fair share of broken promises, this is quickly becoming a thing of the past as not every initiative is built on a house of cards.

The following are a few recent highlights of companies that have followed through with its plans, implementing blockchain in a variety of ways.

China Construction Bank

We have seen various examples of banks issuing large-scale bonds over the past two years.  The most recent comes from the world’s second largest bank – China Construction Bank.  Bonds, which are typically traded, are optimally suited for transference and authentication on blockchain.  While banks often have blockchain departments now, they do not typically specialize in blockchain; meaning that, in this instance, China Construction Bank turned to popular blockchain solution provider, Fusang Exchange.

This event will see Fusang Exchange facilitate the sale of $3 billion worth of blockchain based bonds, on behalf of China Construction Bank.  Purchasers of these bonds are expected to profit from a 0.75% return upon maturity.  Through Fusang Exchange, purchasers will be able to gain access and trade these bonds with, both, Bitcoin and USD.

Fusang Exchange CEO, Henry Chong, spoke on the appeal of digital bonds, stating,

“Issuers no longer need to operate in a fragmented environment with multiple process flows as FUSANG’s end-to-end platform streamlines their needs, from issuance to listing, in one place. Moreover, global investors can now benefit from access to an investment previously reserved for only the largest institutions, together with low and transparent fees.”

In addition to bonds such as this, Fusang Exchange provides investors with access to digital securities such as the recently listed SPICE Tokens.

MountX and Vertalo Real Estate (VRE)

A tokenization effort first announced in August, 2020, by MountX and Vertalo Real Estate, is officially underway.  The duo has announced that two apartments, valued at a combined total of $250,000 USD, have successfully been tokenized.

For those wondering what the benefits are behind this initiative, the duo lists the following points, among others.

• On-chain shareholder registry
• Triple-entry book keeping
• API integration with broker/dealers and custodians
• Liquidity through secondary marketplaces

Vertalo CEO, Dave Hendricks, spoke on the importance of these tokenization efforts, stating,

“MountX is leading by example by advancing the use of digital asset technology to serve the North and Latin American real estate technology industry. Key to this effort is cost control. If tokenization is going to work for lower-priced assets, it's critical to leverage a chain such as Tezos where unpredictable fees and high gas costs don't diminish investor gains at times of secondary trading. We are excited and grateful to have the opportunity to implement revolutionary and capital efficient technology and techniques on an international stage with such a great team, led by Enrique Suarez, MountX's Co-Founder and CEO.”

It should be noted that these efforts are part of a much larger initiative, which will see this pairing of companies work to tokenize at least 15 properties in the coming months – including listings in, both, Mexico and Canada.

PayPal

Last month, PayPal set crypto markets on fire with its announcement for impending digital asset support.  Fast forward a mere three weeks and the payment processors service has officially exited its beta testing, and gone live for the general public.

“We are pleased to announce that all eligible PayPal accountholders in the U.S. can now buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly with PayPal”

While at this time the service is limited to United States residents, the service is expected to expand greatly in the New Year.  This expansion will apply not only geographically, but in the assets supported, as it is expected that other top cryptocurrencies and eventual CBDCs will find their way onto the platform.

For the time being, users with access to the platform will be able to trade and spend up to $20,000 worth of BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH, daily – a service made possible through first of its kind licensure.