Hong Kong expands tokenized settlement trials and stablecoin use

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Hong Kong tokenized settlement trials

Highlights

Hong Kong Monetary Authority's EnsembleTX project now enables 24/7 settlement of tokenized transactions using tokenized central bank money, expanding beyond current operating hours.
HSBC's Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin, achieved 50,000 users within 10 days of its Oct. 23 launch, with 3.3 million PayMe customers eligible to activate wallets.
Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory regime launched in August 2025 enabled HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial to become first licensed issuers, requiring standards for reserve backing and risk management.

24/7 settlement framework moves forward

As reported by Cointelegraph, citing the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, its EnsembleTX project has moved to a new phase that allows round-the-clock settlement of tokenized transactions. The regulator said the change is designed to help banks and their clients move funds globally, manage tokenized investments and carry out treasury operations outside conventional settlement windows.

Participating banks had initially relied on Hong Kong's existing dollar settlement system, which limited operating hours. When real-value trials began in November 2025, the HKMA said it intended to introduce tokenized central bank money to support 24/7 settlement, and HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said on Monday that this tokenized central bank money is being introduced as a "foundation layer" for the system.

Project Ensemble began in March 2024 as an effort to examine how banks could settle tokenized transactions using wholesale central bank digital money. A sandbox opened in August 2024, allowing banks to connect tokenized deposit platforms and test transactions, while Yue said tokenized bonds, money market funds and bank deposits are already in use within the framework.

Stablecoin adoption broadens across the market

The HKMA also said recognized dealers have completed secondary-market trial trades in tokenized Exchange Fund Bills, the regulator's short-term debt instrument. It now plans to widen those trials to include regulated stablecoins, extending the initiative beyond bank-only settlement infrastructure.

Separately, HSBC Group CEO Georges Elhedery said at Hong Kong FinTech Week that the bank's Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin, has reached 50,000 users about 10 days after launch. He said HSBC is targeting multi-million users as access expands, while the bank also offers tokenized deposits to wholesale clients in Hong Kong and around half a dozen other jurisdictions so funds can move around the clock.

HSBC launched RedCoin on Oct. 23 for transfers and merchant payments through its PayMe application, and the bank said more than 3.3 million PayMe customers can activate stablecoin wallets to use the token. It also plans to add the stablecoin to its mobile banking app and enable subscriptions to tokenized investments, including a Hong Kong dollar money market fund share class.

Hong Kong's broader regulatory push is shaping that expansion. HSBC became one of the city's first licensed stablecoin issuers in April alongside Anchorpoint Financial, backed by Animoca Brands and Standard Chartered, under a licensing regime introduced in August 2025 that requires standards for reserve backing, redemption and risk management.

Our earlier article on Philippine sovereign bond reforms examined how changes to pricing conventions and planned index inclusion could improve liquidity, price discovery, and foreign participation in local government securities. It also noted that such market upgrades are not enough on their own: lasting gains depend on fiscal credibility, deeper domestic capital markets (including corporate debt), and broader structural reforms that translate cheaper funding into real investment and productivity growth.

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