Hong Kong: Announced HKMA Project Ensemble to Support Tokenisation Market

On 7 March 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the commencement of Project Ensemble, a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) project aimed at supporting the development of the tokenisation market in Hong Kong. The project will explore innovative financial market infrastructure (FMI) to facilitate seamless interbank settlement of tokenised money through wCBDC, initially focusing on tokenised deposits. The HKMA plans to launch a wCBDC Sandbox within the year to research and test tokenisation use cases, potentially bridging the gap between tokenised real-world assets and money in transactions. The HKMA will also form a wCBDC Architecture Community, partnering with Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation to foster asset tokenisation and support fintech innovation.