UBS Hong Kong tokenizes warrants on Ethereum with OSL

Originally appeared on Cointelegraph

Swiss multinational bank UBS’ Hong Kong subsidiary has tokenized an investment warrant on the Ethereum blockchain together with cryptocurrency exchange OSL.

According to the Feb. 7  announcement , the tokenized product is an options call warrant with Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Corporation as the underlying stock. After tokenization, the digital asset was then sold to the OSL Exchange. 

“We are simulating the whole product life cycle of an equity-linked structured product token, from token mint, through simulated secondary market transactions, and finally to token burn at maturity,” OSL CEO Patrick Pan commented. Meanwhile, Winni Cheuk, head of sales at UBS Global Markets, said the novel product “enhances transparency, reduces transaction fees, streamlines settlement processes, and allows for more flexible trading hours.”

UBS wrote that the tokenization of financial derivatives has several notable advantages, namely creating new accessibility channels, increasing efficiency and providing transparency via the immutable blockchain ledger. “Tokenized warrants utilize smart contracts that allow automation, streamline trading and administrative processes, [and] lower handling costs,” the announcement noted.

UBS has been conducting ongoing research on asset tokenization since 2015. In 2022, the firm issued a $50 million tokenized fixed rate note sold to its Asia Pacific clients through the UBS Tokenize platform.

On June 12, 2023, UBS  facilitated the issuance  of 200 million Chinese yuan ($28 million) worth of digital structured notes minted on the Ethereum blockchain in Hong Kong. Similarly, OSL CEO Patrick Pan told Cointelegraph in  an interview last month  that the firm is currently exploring a Fund Token initiative for the tokenization of retail fund products.