bonds

According to a report by Reuters, artificial intelligence company Zhipu has launched a Hong Kong stock placement of approximately 2 billion USD and a convertible bond issuance of about 3 billion USD, totaling a financing scale of around 5 billion USD. Zhipu will issue 21.97 million new shares at a placement price of 714 HKD per share, which is about a 10% discount compared to the closing price of 793 HKD; at the same time, it will issue 20.14 billion RMB (approximately 3 billion USD) zero-coupon convertible bonds, maturing in September 2027. The issuance price of the convertible bonds is 100% to 100.5% of face value, corresponding to a yield of -0.5% to 0%, with an initial conversion price of 892.5 HKD, which is a 25% premium over the placement price.The proceeds from the financing will mainly be used for research and development, computing power resources, and related infrastructure, as well as for business expansion, strategic investments, potential mergers and acquisitions, working capital, and other corporate purposes. This stock placement and convertible bond issuance will occur simultaneously, but the settlement of the two transactions is not interdependent.

According to Token Terminal data, the tokenized U.S. Treasury product USYC (under Circle) has increased its market value by 2 billion dollars in the past year, ranking first among similar assets; iBENJI and USDY follow closely, with increases of 1.7 billion dollars and 1.5 billion dollars, respectively. BlackRock's BUIDL grew by 552.5 million dollars during the same period, ranking fifth.

Eurozone government bond prices fell on Friday, with the global bond market expected to record its worst weekly performance since the outbreak of the Iran war, as soaring energy prices forced central banks worldwide to take swift action against inflation. The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points and adjusted its inflation and growth forecasts. The yield on Germany's two-year government bonds rose to 3.208%, the highest since October 2023.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Demat 2 pilot this week, issuing corporate bonds in the form of digital tokens on a distributed ledger operated by regulated market institutions, and settling through the wholesale digital rupee of the Reserve Bank of India. The size of India's corporate bond market is approximately $620 billion.The state-owned power financing institution REC raised ₹50 billion (approximately $56 million) through this system, engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro refinanced ₹50 billion, and non-banking financial institution IIFL Finance raised ₹2.5 billion (approximately $2.8 million), totaling around ₹102.5 billion. The bonds retain fixed interest rates, maturity dates, and investor rights, but the tokenized bonds can be settled simultaneously with the digital rupees used for purchase, thereby reducing transaction risk.Subsequent phases will introduce smart contracts to handle corporate actions such as interest payments and redemptions, and there are plans to open secondary market trading, ultimately allowing retail investors to participate. India maintains a cautious attitude towards private cryptocurrencies, and this pilot is an attempt to introduce tokenization into its controlled financial system.

According to Gate market data, the yield on Germany's 10-year government bonds rose by 6 basis points to 3.51%, the highest level since 2009.

According to Bloomberg, Dell Technologies is seeking to raise approximately $4 billion through the issuance of investment-grade bonds for refinancing existing debt. Insiders say the final issuance size has not yet been determined and will be adjusted based on market demand.This bond issuance comes at a time when demand for AI-driven servers continues to grow, and Dell is benefiting from the surge in investment in AI infrastructure, boosting its performance.

The law firm Harneys and the tokenization platform droppRWA plan to issue the first catastrophe bond that directly records ownership on the blockchain, with the first trading target set for early 2027. This structure will make the blockchain a legally enforceable record of ownership, with investor registration, qualification review, and payment processes all placed within the same system, reducing reconciliation time from several days to seconds, provided that the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained.The catastrophe bond market is a $65.6 billion market that allows insurance companies, reinsurance companies, and government agencies to transfer natural disaster exposure to capital market investors. The tokenized asset market has nearly tripled in the past year to over $33 billion, and Citigroup expects this sector to reach $5.5 trillion by 2030. The second quarter of 2026 is projected to be the largest quarter in catastrophe bond issuance history, with 48 transactions issuing a total of $11.3 billion, and the Bermuda Stock Exchange accounted for 93% of global catastrophe bond issuance in 2025.To lower the investment threshold, investors will not directly purchase catastrophe bond notes, which typically have a minimum denomination of $250,000, but instead purchase beneficial interests in vehicles that hold the bonds and pass through the returns, with the minimum investment amount expected to drop to $5,000. The project is still subject to applicable regulatory requirements and approvals, and any platform administrator role must be licensed under Bermuda's Digital Asset Business Act 2018.

MediaTek announced on the 31st that it has completed the pricing of $3.9 billion (nearly NT$125 billion) in overseas convertible bonds, bringing in funds from two AI giants, Nvidia and Google's parent company Alphabet. Nvidia accounted for $3.5 billion (about NT$110 billion), approximately 90% of the total amount, and announced that the two companies will deepen their cooperation in the future. This is the largest overseas convertible bond issuance in the history of Taiwan's capital market and also Nvidia's first investment in a Taiwanese company.According to a joint statement from Nvidia and MediaTek, Nvidia will purchase MediaTek's overseas convertible bonds. This investment expands the cooperation between the two parties, and MediaTek will use Nvidia's NVLink Fusion and Nvidia's recently released NVHBM technology to facilitate smoother communication of components in data centers. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang stated that the cooperation with MediaTek has "expanded significantly," making it one of the top partnerships; MediaTek's processors will become the foundation for the next generation of Windows PCs. MediaTek stated that this overseas fundraising attracted enthusiastic participation and subscriptions from long-term important partners such as Nvidia and Alphabet, as well as renowned international investors.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that stablecoins are a more trustworthy form of currency than tokenized bank deposits, the former being almost fully backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, while the latter typically only has 10% of liquid assets backing it. Pablo Hernandez de Cos, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), mentioned that stablecoins face issues such as redemption capability, supply, interoperability, and facilitating crime, and he referred to tokenized bank deposits as a more direct path to preserving the monetary system's foundation while utilizing tokenization.Ardoino pointed out that the market capitalization of USDT has exceeded $183 billion and is used by some emerging markets for domestic and cross-border commerce. In discussions surrounding the Digital Asset Market Transparency Act (CLARITY Act), banks are concerned that allowing cryptocurrency exchanges to provide incentives for stablecoins could lead to a shift in deposits.

Eurozone government bond yields rose in the morning, with the yield on Germany's 10-year government bonds rising to 3.276%, a 15-year high. Deutsche Bank stated that rising oil prices, increasing inflation in the Eurozone, and the European Central Bank's hawkish stance are driving yields higher.

Virtu Financial, M1X Global, and Tradeweb have completed an on-chain repurchase transaction using the digital sovereign bond USDM1 issued by the Marshall Islands as collateral, with all settlements completed on the Canton Network within 10 minutes. The parties stated that this is the first case combining native-issued sovereign collateral with fully on-chain atomic settlement.USDM1 is a dollar-denominated sovereign bond issued on-chain by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasury securities, which continues to pay interest during the collateral period and is structured as a fully collateralized sovereign debt instrument under New York law. The bond is offered through the Tradeweb platform, with custodial services provided by Anchorage Digital, BitGo, and tZERO.Canton is a blockchain network designed for institutional finance, equipped with privacy and permission management features. Prior to this transaction, Tradeweb facilitated the real-time transfer of tokenized U.S. Treasury securities from Franklin Templeton to Virtu Financial on Canton in July. Since August, FalconX and Interstice have launched a cross-chain exchange engine connecting Canton with Ethereum, Solana, and Robinhood Chain, and World Liberty Financial has also natively issued the USD1 stablecoin on Canton.

The dollar assets of Bitcoin Treasury Company Strategy have reached $6.69 billion, nearly equivalent to its $6.75 billion outstanding convertible bonds, with the net leverage ratio dropping to nearly zero. Driven by ongoing buybacks and the rebound of Bitcoin prices to around $80,000, its preferred stock STRC has rebounded over 35% since the low in June, currently reported at $97.23, still below the $100 par value.Executive Chairman Michael Saylor stated that USD Cash has enhanced the company's digital credit capital framework, specifically for the general purposes of Bitcoin Treasury Company, including increasing BTC holdings, paying preferred stock dividends and interest, repurchasing MSTR/preferred stock, repaying convertible bonds, and increasing dollar reserves. In May, Strategy repurchased $1.5 billion of convertible bonds maturing in 2029 to alleviate its debt burden.Competitor Strive Asset Management eliminated all debt earlier this year, and its preferred stock SATA has rebounded to the $100 par value, with shares issued last week through an ATM program. Analysts pointed out that eliminating debt will strengthen STRC's position in the capital structure, but ongoing buybacks, ample dollar liquidity, and the rebound in Bitcoin prices may provide more direct support for the preferred stock to return to par value.

Market news indicates that SoftBank Group is in discussions with investment banks regarding a potential bond issuance of $10 billion to $20 billion to help refinance its investment in OpenAI.

According to the Nikkei, Japan's Financial Services Agency, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Japan, and financial institutions plan to establish a research group in the summer of 2026 to promote the construction of next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure based on blockchain (distributed ledger), with a specific preparation plan expected to be formed in early 2027.The plan initially focuses on government bonds and stock trading, aiming to achieve 24-hour instant settlement of funds and securities. The report notes that although there have been several blockchain financial application trials in the past, this is the first time the Japanese government and central bank have set a clear timeline for the actual implementation of related infrastructure.

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller stated that the decision by Besant to spend billions of dollars to buy back U.S. Treasuries is a wrong decision. He believes that the market aggregates information that no committee can possess, and prices are the way information is conveyed to decision-makers. Druckenmiller pointed out that the Treasury's attempt to influence the bond market lacks rationale, and the current financial environment is in a loose state.

Japan will issue 10-year and 30-year government bonds on September 1 and 3, respectively, and the market is closely watching their auction performance. Nomura Holdings strategist Andrew Ticehurst stated that if auction demand is weak, it could push up the yields of Japanese and U.S. government bonds, increasing market risk.