Hong Kong has taken an important step towards the development of the tokenization market and the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) by creating a special working group.
Hong Kong Forms Industry Community to Advance Wholesale CBDC and Tokenization
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the territory's de facto central bank, today announced the establishment of “Project Ensemble Architecture Community”.
This initiative aims to promote interoperability between CBDC, tokenized money and tokenized assets, and ultimately set standards for the emerging industry.
In a statement, the HKMA outlined the key objectives of the working group, which include recommending mechanisms to facilitate seamless interbank settlement of tokenized deposits via wholesale CBDC for tokenized asset transactions.
The group also aims to support the design and implementation of Project Ensemble, a new wholesale CBDC project launched by the HKMA in March.
The organizations participating in the “Architectural Community” comprise a range of stakeholders, including the HKMA, the Securities and Futures Commission, the BIS Innovation Center Hong Kong Centre, the CBDC Expert Group and seven private sector members.
Notable participants from the private sector include Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, HashKey Group, Ant Digital Technologies and Microsoft Hong Kong.
The HKMA's initiative comes as efforts to test CBDC continue, with the second phase of the e-HKD pilot launched in March and expected to run until mid-2025.
It is not investment advice.
