The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is pioneering real-value transactions in tokenized deposits and digital assets within a controlled pilot environment, in a bid to accelerate the continuous development of a comprehensive tokenization ecosystem in the SAR.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Thursday announced the launch of EnsembleTX, the pilot phase of Project Ensemble. The project was launched in August 2024 and allowed industry players to test comprehensive end-to-end use cases for settling digital asset transactions using experimental tokenized deposits.

The initial focus of EnsembleTX will be on empowering market participants to utilize tokenized deposits in tokenized money market fund transactions, and to manage liquidity and treasury needs in real time. Another area of focus is the interbank settlement of tokenized deposit transactions being initially facilitated via the HKD Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system

EnsembleTX will operate throughout 2026 to establish a strong foundation for further innovation.

The HKMA and the Securities and Futures Commission will continue to collaborate closely to advance the practical applications of tokenization technology across a diverse set of asset classes, use cases and sectors within the financial industry.

“This milestone underscores Hong Kong's pioneering role in shaping the future of digital finance, both regionally and globally,” HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said. “It is where innovation meets implementation, and the concepts and details tested in the Ensemble Sandbox are now applied in real-value transactions, delivering tangible benefits to market participants.”

SFC Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung Fung-yee added: "To scale tokenization of investment products, interoperability is key. A critical step in that direction is today's initiative announced by the HKMA which will gradually allow interbank settlement of tokenized deposits in real time around the clock.”

ALSO READ: Hong Kong’s exports in September up 13.8% y-o-y

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, the Hong Kong business unit of global banking giant HSBC Holdings, completed the first transaction in EnsembleTX on Thursday. This inaugural transaction related to the transfer of Ant International’s HK$3.8 million ($489,000) to its wallet held at another domestic bank.

“The launch of EnsembleTX 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 and Global Payments Solutions at HSBC.

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), the subsidiary of Standard Chartered PLC, also completed two real-value use cases in EnsembleTX. The first case involved interbank transfers of tokenized deposits among Ant International’s entities, and the second involved transferring tokenized deposits to help Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) to subscribe to China Asset Management (Hong Kong)’s tokenized money market fund.

“The success of these real-value transactions use cases has demonstrated the enormous potential of tokenized assets in facilitating seamless interbank settlements and their integral role in the next generation of financial market infrastructure,” Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) and Greater China and North Asia CEO Mary Huen said.

The 2025 Policy Address outlined plans to advance Project Ensemble in a bid to encourage commercial banks to introduce tokenized deposits and promote live transactions of tokenized assets.