WM Datenservice is the world’s first national numbering agency to place ISINs on a blockchain
News · WM Gruppe
Frankfurt am Main, 25 March 2026. For the first time, WM Datenservice has placed an ISIN – a regulatorily required identifier – on the blockchain, for a crypto securities bond issued by DZ Bank on the Polygon blockchain with KfW as the investor. Germany’s national numbering agency is the world’s first ISIN issuer to automatically exchange digital issue documents with DZ Bank’s Smart Bond Contract Factory via WM’s own “Smart ISIN Contract” without system disruptions. The pilot project was carried out as part of a strategic partnership between WM Datenservice and DZ Bank. Also involved were Cashlink, a leading crypto-securities registrar, and the consultancy company d-fine.
The ISIN, or International Securities Identification Number, is not only a key identifier for traditional assets, but also for the new blockchain based world of digital assets. “As the world’s largest national numbering agency, WM Datenservice allocates a unique identifier to around 35,000 securities every day. As the central allocation authority, we are making a decisive contribution, together with our partners, to the development of a future global standard for scalable data exchange on the blockchain via ICMA XML through this pilot project,” says Duc Au, who initiated the project for WM Datenservice in his capacity as consultant and project manager.
“WM Datenservice is the creator of the WKN (German Securities Identification Number), launched in 1955, which was one of the earliest unique identifiers for financial instruments. With the world’s first ISIN allocation on the blockchain, we are once again breaking new ground. As the German financial industry’s ‘golden source’ for primary data, we are actively shaping the evolving ecosystem of digital assets and working alongside our partners to build the capital market of the future,” says Joachim Lauterbach, Chief Executive Officer of WM Gruppe, to which WM Datenservice belongs.
DZ BANK is a conceptual pioneer in the field of digital assets, particularly with its Smart Bond Contract concept. Peter Kohl-Landgraf, Digital Transformation Manager in the Capital Markets Division at DZ BANK, adds: “Through the automated allocation of ISINs via smart contracts and the integration of digital issue data based on the ICMA standard, DZ Bank and WM Datenservice are demonstrating in this pilot project how capital market processes can be fundamentally transformed using new technologies.”
”With the Blockchain-ISIN, WM Datenservice is setting a groundbreaking milestone towards more efficient securities processes. The direct and straightforward exchange of data via smart contracts is a forward-looking approach. As the German market leader for token-based securities, we are delighted to be actively driving forward this transformation together with strong partners,” says Simon Censkowsky, Head of Business Development at the crypto-securities registrar Cashlink Technologies.
Marc Henniges, Senior Manager at d-fine, adds: “Current regulatory and technological developments in the blockchain sector are giving rise to a new, more efficient financial ecosystem in which many market participants are strategically repositioning themselves. WM Datenservice is therefore taking an important step forward with its smart contract-based ISIN allocation.”