Hong Kong’s de facto central bank has begun facilitating real-value transactions using tokenised deposits and digital assets under a controlled pilot programme from Thursday, reinforcing the city’s status as a fintech hub.
The programme would run through 2026, with an initial focus on allowing market participants to use tokenised deposits in tokenised money-market funds and to manage liquidity and treasury needs in real time, according to the HKMA.
HSBC, Hong Kong’s largest banking group by assets, completed a cross-bank transfer of HK$3.8 million (US$489,000) in tokenised deposits for its client Ant International, according to a separate announcement on Thursday.
“The launch of [the new pilot] and the interoperability layer marks an essential step for Hong Kong to become a global hub for innovation in digital money and assets,” said Vincent Lau, global head of digital money at HSBC’s global payments solutions.
Lau said it aligned with rising demand from corporate treasuries for tokenisation, with a survey pointing to a sixfold surge over the next two years.