Launch of Sebi-RBI's Demat 2.0 pilot for tokenised corporate bonds on Sept 10 marked a significant evolution in the architecture of India's financial markets. The initiative uses distributed ledger technology, digital securities and central bank digital currency (CBDC) to bring securities and settlement legs of a transaction closer together.
The pilot has seen three issuances, raising around ₹1,025 cr, signalling that tokenisation is moving from an idea into a practical market experiment. But there's one question that needs to be answered alongside tokenisation: can we make bonds liquid after they have been issued?