HKMA Pilot Lets Banks Settle Tokenized Deposits Nights and Weekends in Central Bank Money

Banks in Hong Kong can now settle tokenized deposit transactions with one another 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using tokenized central bank money, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on Monday.

The new capability sits inside EnsembleTX, the live pilot of the HKMA’s Project Ensemble. The pilot now counts 12 participating banks and 20 industry pioneers. Banks named in the release include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank (Asia) and ICBC (Asia), while Ant International, BlackRock and China Asset Management (Hong Kong) are among the pioneers.

The HKMA’s November 2025 launch notice for EnsembleTX said interbank legs would first clear over the HKD Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, with a later upgrade to tokenized central bank money around the clock. Participants used the pilot for real-value deals in corporate treasury and tokenized money market funds.

HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said in the release that the project had shifted “from experimentation and piloting to a new phase focused on promoting the commercialisation of tokenisation applications in Hong Kong.” He added that “a trend is emerging in the launch of tokenised deposits by banks worldwide.”

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Hong Kong’s round-the-clock option for tokenized bank deposits settles in money the HKMA itself issues, so banks no longer wait for RTGS hours to close the interbank leg. Licensed stablecoins operate in the same market, but Monday’s release does not mention them; the 24×7 settlement runs on bank deposits and central bank money.

Julia Leung, chief executive officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, said in the release that tokenized deposits “can now power around-the-clock transactions, including corporate treasury management and secondary trading of tokenised funds on licensed platforms.”

Financial Secretary Paul Chan told Hong Kong FinTech Week earlier Monday that banks will also be able to use tokenized deposits for cross-border payments. He said the HKMA “is also testing tokenised Exchange Fund Bills” and working with Cyberport on business uses of tokenization. Two SFC-authorized tokenized money market funds started trading around the clock on a licensed platform last week, Chan said, and the HKMA granted its first two stablecoin issuer licenses in April. HSBC, one of those licensees and an EnsembleTX bank, launched its Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin, last month.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said an interbank tokenized gold project will start soon on Ensemble, with each gold token representing one standard 400-ounce bar and tokenized deposits used alongside it.

Project Ensemble has drawn asset managers before: Franklin Templeton partnered with HSBC and OSL through it to launch a tokenized money market fund in Hong Kong in November 2025.

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