Siemens and Samsung Step Up Their Web3 Strategies, Investing in Digital Bonds and Startups

Two of the biggest players in the tech industry, Siemens and Samsung, are making waves in the crypto sector with their recent advancements.

Siemens Issues €300 Million Digital Bond

Siemens, the German technology giant, recently launched its second digital bond worth €300 million on a public blockchain, as announced on September 4th.

This bond, with a maturity period of one year, was settled using SWIAT’s private permissioned blockchain and leveraged the Bundesbank’s Trigger Solution. DekaBank served as the bond registrar, while BayernLB, DZ BANK, Helaba, and LBBW were among the investors. Deutsche Bank facilitated the settlement in central bank money.

The transaction was completed in a fully automated manner within minutes and in central bank money. Siemens also highlighted that this bond issuance was compliant with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act, which allows for the issuance of securities in electronic form, eliminating the need for physical certificates.

Furthermore, Siemens mentioned that this digital bond supports the European Central Bank’s tests of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for settling securities with central bank money. This move follows Siemens’ first digital bond issuance of €60 million in February 2023. Ralf P. Thomas, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens AG, expressed:

“By issuing another digital bond, we are demonstrating once again our spirit of innovation and underscoring our aim to continuously drive digital solutions for the financial markets.”

Samsung Invests in Web3 Startup Startale Labs

Samsung Next, the venture capital arm of South Korean tech giant Samsung, has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based Startale Labs through the Soneium Spark program, as per a statement from Samsung Next investor John Yim on September 4th.

The reason behind Samsung’s investment in Startale Labs is their provision of essential tools and infrastructure like Astar Network, Soneium, and Startale Cloud Services, which simplify the development and deployment of decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts.

Startale Labs’ solutions aim to reduce barriers such as high entry costs, lack of interoperability, and technical complexity, making Web3 technologies more accessible and scalable for developers and businesses. Sota Watanabe, the founder of Startale Labs, shared:

“We understand the existing problems and then explore how Web3 can address them. All technical solutions should be driven by the problems, not by the tech itself.”