India's SEBI Launches 'Demat 2.0' for Tokenized Corporate Bonds

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced the launch of 'Demat 2.0' on September 10, a pilot project utilizing distributed ledger technology to tokenize corporate bonds. The system integrates with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee, to enable atomic delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlements. Smart contracts will automate interest payments and redemptions directly to investors' CBDC wallets. The pilot, which currently involves three issuers including REC Limited, L&T Limited, and IIFL, aims to reduce settlement times from days to the same day. The project operates on a private, permissioned blockchain managed by depositories and exchanges, maintaining existing market infrastructure while enhancing efficiency.