![\"360X](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Depositphotos_163587142_L-1024x695.jpg\")
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In 2012 Deutsche B\u00f6rse and Commerzbank entered a strategic partnership with 360X to develop a trading venue for digital assets. Fast forward four years, and 360X in collaboration with DekaBank, the securities services provider of the German Savings Banks Finance Group, and Union Investment, the German asset manager, completed the first secondary market trade of Siemens\u2019 digital bond on a regulated venue.<\/p>\n
In August this year 360X said in a statement that it had completed a secondary market transaction of Siemens\u2019 one-year \u20ac300m digital bond, which was issued in 2024. The primary securities transaction was settled via the private permissioned blockchain of SWIAT, the German blockchain infrastructure provider, and the Trigger Solution provided by the Bundesbank, the German central bank. The Siemens bond was settled for the first time in a fully automated manner, within minutes and in central bank money.<\/p>\n
Peter Rathgeb, Siemens<\/p>\n Peter Rathgeb, group treasury at Siemens, said in a statement: \u201cThe inaugural secondary market trading of our tokenized bond is a key achievement for digital bonds. Enabling trading significantly enhances the appeal of our digital bond to investors, who now benefit from greater liquidity and flexibility in their portfolios.\u201d<\/p>\n The multi-million euro trade was the first secondary transaction on a regulated trading venue of this landmark digital security, according to 360X, and bridges the gap between innovative DLT-based instruments and the operational requirements of institutional investors. 360X is overseen by German regulators, BaFin and Deutsche Bundesbank.<\/p>\n Michael Spitz, co-chief executive of 360X, told Markets Media that from the start of the company, it was clear that it had to be \u201crock-solid\u201d from a regulatory and security perspective. His co-chief executive, Carlo K\u00f6lzer and his team founded 360T, the electronic foreign exchange trading platform, in Frankfurt in 2000.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve spent our first two and a half years establishing 360X as a security firm under German law,\u201d Spitz added. \u201cWith great guidance from Deutsche B\u00f6rse and Commerzbank, we built our technology with a clear goal and to meet the real-world requirements of our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n 360X runs three three separate fully regulated markets \u2013 the 360X MTF (multilateral trading facility) for transparent, order-driven trading; the specialized 360X DLT-MTF for native digital assets under the EU DLT Pilot Regime; and the 360X OTC desk for bilateral transactions which was used for the Siemens trade. Spitz said 360X is the first, and only, firm to receive the DLT MTF license.<\/p>\n \u201cBy also holding a traditional MTF license and supporting FIX protocols, we\u2019ve built a platform that bridges the old with the new,\u201d Spitz added.<\/p>\n The market is fragmented with traditional firms siloed from crypto-native ones, and vice versa, and Spitz explained that 360X wanted to solve this issue by catering to both types for clients as the firm believes the \u201cfuture is hybrid.\u201d Therefore, 360X provides trading for both digital securities and multiple asset classes in traditional finance \u2013 from equities to rates, credit, money market and private market.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just supporting a new world, we provide the bridge to it,\u201d said Spitz.<\/p>\n He said the firm is actively partnering with issuers and banks to help them get ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n Michael Spitz, 360X<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition to digital isn\u2019t a single event\u2014it\u2019s a gradual process that\u2019s already underway,\u201d said Spitz. \u201cWe all need to prepare for a future where digital natives are the new standard.\u201d<\/p>\n He argued that institutions that don\u2019t invest in wallet connectivity for digital assets are missing the next wave of opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about technology; it\u2019s about being part of the conversation,\u201d Spitz added. \u201cJust as those who ignored digital photography were left behind, firms that aren\u2019t on this journey won\u2019t be able to shape the future of their industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Settlement as a differentiator<\/strong><\/p>\n Spitz claimed that 360X\u2019s core differentiator is its agnostic approach to settlement, which ensures that clients have the flexibility to operate in any environment. The venue supports multiple types of settlement from traditional central securities depositories (CSDs), to bank-led mechanisms to emerging systems under the EU DLT Pilot Regime and a range of bespoke solutions like HSBC\u2019s Orion, the bank\u2019s digital assets platform.<\/p>\n He described 360X\u2019s vision as \u201csimple\u201d \u2013 that clients should be able to buy a security and choose how to settle it either through a traditional custodian or a crypto wallet via the same ISIN, or security identifier. Eventually, these securities should be freely exchangeable between the two.<\/p>\n \u201cWe provide the bridge for firms without a crypto wallet and for those without a traditional custody account,\u201d Spitz said. \u201cWe believe in hybrid capital markets.\u201d<\/p>\n Users can buy and sell on 360X and the venue handles the complexity behind the scenes. For on-chain settlement, 360X uses an oracle to broadcast the trade confirmation across approximately 14 different blockchain networks, which Spitz said ensures seamless integration and a single source of truth for all transactions. An oracle is a third-party service that provides external, real-world data to smart contracts on a blockchain. 360X made a deliberate decision not to commit to a single blockchain and be chain-agnostic.<\/p>\n \u201cLimiting ourselves to one would be like building an exchange that trades only Apple stock \u2013 it just wouldn\u2019t work,\u201d added Spitz. \u201cWe\u2019re building for a future where choice and interoperability are standard.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients of Deutsche B\u00f6rse Group\u2019s member section can connect to 360X with just a click of a button. Spitz said: \u201cIt was a real eye-opener for us \u2013 and them \u2013 just how much friction this removes.\u201d<\/p>\n Global DLT bond issuance<\/strong><\/p>\n A total of \u20ac1.69bn in DLT-based fixed income instruments have been issued globally as of September 2025, according to a report from The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.marketsmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peter-Rathgeb.jpeg\")
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