Investors have added an extra $50 million to the World Bank's blockchain-based Kangaroo bond.

Managed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the bond is recorded on the Bond-i platform built using the Ethereum blockchain.

The bond, which matures in August next year, has now raised a total of $160 million from investors including First State Super, the NSW and Victorian Treasury Corporations, and QBE Insurance.

Head of Blockchain and AI for CBA, Sophie Gilder, said the extra investment and secondary trading showed a level of confidence in the bank’s blockchain platform.

“CBA now has tangible evidence from our first bond offering using blockchain technology and subsequent bond management that blockchain technology can deliver a new level of efficiency, transparency and risk management capability versus the existing market infrastructure,” Gilder said.

“Next we intend to deliver additional functionality to deliver greater efficiencies in settlement, custody and regulatory compliance.”

CBA has been experimenting with using distributing ledger technology in different aspects of trade.

On Wednesday the bank announced it had developed a blockchain marketplace for trading ‘BioTokens’ which act as biodiversity credits as part of the NSW Government’s Biodiversity Offset Scheme.

Gilder said she envisions further applications for distributed ledgers for the management of intellectual property and water rights.

Building trust on blockchain

Since its debut over a decade ago, people have been trying to make use of the digital immutability provided by blockchain—in ways that go beyond cryptocurrency.

ACS’ Blockchain 2030 report identified social and economic trust as a key opportunity for blockchain, citing a trend of growing distrust for established institutions.

“Problems of trust are likely to have hindered the true potential of e-commerce and other internet-related activities,” the report said.

“Distributed ledger technologies, which have the ability to automate the three functions of a trusted third-party intermediary (validating, safeguarding and preserving transactions), seem like a natural step in the new stage of trust evolution.”

Already blockchain has been used to shore up supply chains of medical cannabis and beef, as well as for adding trust to assets like digital licenses and permits.

Last month, the New York Times announced its News Provenance Project that aims to develop a system of verifying the authenticity of digital content in an effort to combat the spread of fake news.