Luxembourg Marks Milestone with First Government Digital Treasury Certificates via DLT

Luxembourg, June 2025 – Luxembourg’s State Treasury has broken new ground by issuing its first sovereign Digital Treasury Certificates (DTCs) on a blockchain platform. The €50 million issuance, executed under Luxembourg law on June 16, 2025, was seamlessly conducted using HSBC’s Orion distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform.

The six-month, zero-coupon certificates—priced at approximately 99.03% of face value—will be redeemed at par upon maturity.  The issuance represents one of the largest DLT-based sovereign issuances to date and positions Luxembourg among the earliest European nations to conduct government debt issuance in this digital native format. Slovenia was the first, having carried out a similar issuance in July 2024. 

HSBC’s Orion platform, hosted in Luxembourg, was structured to comply with the country’s sophisticated digital-securities legal framework, including a two-tier account model and the role of a central account keeper. 

Key Highlights of the Issuance:

• Legal and technological innovation: Leveraging Luxembourg’s DLT-specific laws, which offer legal clarity for digital securities issuance, custody, and circulation. 
• Operational advantages: Faster settlements, heightened transparency, improved security, and cost efficiency for both issuers and investors. 
• Leadership and execution: Joint lead managers HSBC Continental Europe and BGL BNP Paribas facilitated the issuance, which was also listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) official securities list. 
• Policy impetus: Luxembourg’s Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, praised the move as a demonstration of the nation's pioneering stance in digital finance. He affirmed that the success of this issuance would inform future offerings, potentially including a full-fledged digital sovereign bond. 

This issuance not only reinforces Luxembourg’s ambition to modernize sovereign debt infrastructure but also serves as a compelling proof of concept for DLT-enabled government financing within the euro area. Encouraged by investor feedback, the Treasury is exploring future digital debt instruments, charting a path for broader adoption in the capital markets.  

Read More: Luxembourg issues government's first digital treasury certificates issuance using DLT - A&O Shearman
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