(Yicai Global) Nov. 26 -- A Malaysian branch of China Construction Bank has withdrawn from facilitating a USD3 billion issuance of bonds that could be traded in Bitcoin.

The bonds would have been one of the first stock exchange-listed digital notes, accessible to retail investors, the Paper reported, citing project partner Fusang Exchange.

The digital asset exchange has started returning deposits to investors after CCB's Labuan branch said it will not become a lead arranger for the issuance that was announced 11 days before. The bank has not provided a reason.

Fusang Exchange announced on Nov. 11 that retail investors were supposed to be able to buy the bonds in US dollars or Bitcoin. The annual interest rate would have been Libor plus 50 basis points, resulting in about 0.7 percent. Investors could have participated with as little as USD100. 

The cryptocurrency exchange has no legal, regulatory, operational, or technical issues regarding the issuance, said Chief Executive Henry Chong. There was strong investor demand for the landmark digital bond, so it was unfortunate that the arranger has decided not to proceed, he added.

Shares of Beijing-based CCB [SHA: 601939] rose 1.8 percent to close at CNY6.74 (USD1.03). Banking stocks gained an average of 1.2 percent on Chinese mainland bourses today.

Editor: Emmi Laine