In force · Applies to Listed issuers, Brokers, Banks
SEBI and the RBI launched Demat 2.0, a pilot in which corporate bonds are issued as tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the depositories, with settlement in wholesale CBDC through the RBI's Unified Markets Interface. REC, L&T and IIFL issued tokenised bonds worth Rs 1,025 crore in total between 7 and 9 September 2026. Later phases will add secondary trading on request-for-quote platforms and retail access.
Why it matters: India put tokenised bonds inside its existing depositories instead of beside them, which is the fastest route to scale and the least open one.
Bonds are created as tokens on a distributed ledger kept by market infrastructure institutions. The ledger is owned by the depositories.
The ledger connects to the RBI’s wholesale CBDC through the Unified Markets Interface, so the bond and the payment settle at the same moment.
Interest and redemption are paid in wholesale CBDC to bondholders’ CBDC wallets by smart contract on the due date.
Investors hold the tokens in their existing demat accounts with no new KYC, but need to enable Demat 2.0 with their depository and hold a CBDC wallet with a participating bank.
The bond is the same instrument in law, and rating, trustee, listing and disclosure rules apply in full.
Issued so far: REC (Rs 500 crore, 18 investors, 7 September), L&T (Rs 500 crore, 4 investors, 9 September) and IIFL (Rs 25 crore, 1 investor, 9 September). The RBI Governor announced the pilot in his Global Fintech Fest keynote as a joint initiative with SEBI (para 30).
Implications
SEBI claims India is the first country to issue corporate bonds natively on a ledger with the statutory depositories holding the ownership record and settlement in CBDC. Whether or not that holds, the design choice is clear. Tokenisation happens inside the existing market plumbing, so issuers, investors and intermediaries do not have to change venues or accounts.
The benefits SEBI lists are operational: same-day funds for issuers instead of two to three days, atomic settlement, and automated coupon payments. Retail access and secondary trading come later, and the investor counts so far are small.
For Ethereum
The ledger is owned by the depositories and run by market infrastructure institutions, and settlement uses a central bank token. Public chains play no part, and nothing in the release suggests they will. For India, “tokenisation” in regulated markets currently means a ledger run by market institutions with a central bank settlement asset.
Elsewhere in Asia
Hong Kong now allows on-platform trading of tokenised funds and permits public chains with controls. Singapore is making room for bank-issued tokens on permissionless chains. India’s pilot runs on a single ledger owned by the depositories.
What to watch
The second phase, with secondary trading on request-for-quote platforms, and when retail investors are admitted.