Hong Kong opens round-the-clock settlement for tokenised deposits

Overview

Updated 28 minutes ago

Hong Kong's interbank settlement used to stop when the banking day ended. On November 2, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said its Project Ensemble pilot can now clear tokenised deposit transfers between banks around the clock, using tokenised central bank money as the settlement asset.

The change moves tokenised deposits from a controlled experiment toward commercial plumbing. Twelve banks and 20 industry partners are now in the pilot, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) alone reports more than HK$2.3 billion in real-value transactions.

Why it matters

If tokenised deposits become standard corporate cash, settlement stops being tied to banking hours, and Hong Kong's banks set the template other markets copy.

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Key Indicators

Participating banks

Banks that issue tokenised deposits and settle interbank transfers through Ensemble TX.

Industry pioneers

Companies testing tokenised deposits for treasury, funds and digital-asset trading.

HK$2.3B

BOCHK real-value transactions

Value Bank of China (Hong Kong) had processed on Ensemble TX as of the end of October.

24/7

Settlement availability

Interbank tokenised deposit transfers now clear outside standard banking hours.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Eddie Yue

Chief Executive, Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Leading the HKMA's tokenisation push

Julia Leung

Chief Executive Officer, Securities and Futures Commission

Coordinating tokenised fund rules with the HKMA

Xing Guiwei

Deputy Chief Executive, Bank of China (Hong Kong)

Overseeing BOCHK's Ensemble TX transactions

Organizations Involved

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Central bank and banking regulator

Operator of Project Ensemble and Ensemble TX

Hong Kong's de facto central bank, which runs the Ensemble TX pilot.

Securities and Futures Commission

Securities regulator

Coordinating tokenised fund and platform rules

Hong Kong's securities regulator, which licenses the platforms where tokenised funds trade.

Standard Chartered

Bank

Launched tokenised deposits in Hong Kong

London-headquartered bank that made Hong Kong the first market for its tokenised deposit product.

Bank of China (Hong Kong)

Bank

Tokenised deposit bank in Project Ensemble

One of Hong Kong's largest banks and an early tokenised deposit participant.

China Construction Bank (Asia)

Bank

Launched tokenised deposit platform

The Hong Kong arm of China Construction Bank, now clearing tokenised deposits around the clock.

China Asset Management (Hong Kong)

Asset manager

Issuer of tokenised money market funds used in the pilot

Hong Kong asset manager whose tokenised funds give the pilot a real investment product to settle.

Timeline

November 2025 November 2026

5 events Latest: Today

Tap a bar to jump to that date

November 2026
HKMA enables 24/7 settlement in tokenised central bank money
Today Infrastructure

Participating banks can now clear tokenised deposit transfers around the clock, outside standard banking hours.
Today
Standard Chartered launches tokenised deposits
Today Product launch

The bank makes Hong Kong the first market for its tokenised deposit product for corporate clients.
Today
BOCHK reports HK$2.3 billion processed
Today Disclosure

Bank of China (Hong Kong) says it has run real-value transactions for Ant International and China Asset Management funds.
Today
CCB (Asia) launches tokenised deposit platform
Today Product launch

The bank connects to the HKMA's 7x24 central bank digital currency platform for automated cross-bank clearing.
Today
November 2025
Ensemble TX pilot launches
Launch

The pilot begins settling tokenised deposit transfers through Hong Kong's real-time gross settlement system.
November 2025

Scenarios

More banks join Ensemble TX as tokenised deposits scale

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: HKMA and participating banks

The HKMA has added banks in each phase, and Standard Chartered's launch gives other lenders a template. If corporate demand grows, more banks are likely to join the settlement network.

Standard Chartered takes tokenised deposits to a second market

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Standard Chartered

The bank said it plans to expand the solution to more markets over time. A second launch would show the Hong Kong pilot is exportable rather than a one-off.

HKMA extends 24/7 tokenised settlement beyond the Hong Kong dollar

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: HKMA

The pilot settles in tokenised Hong Kong dollar central bank money. Cross-border use, including with mainland China, would require a second currency. The HKMA has not announced a timetable.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2016-2021

Project Ubin (2016-2021)

Singapore's Monetary Authority ran a multi-phase project testing distributed ledger settlement for payments and securities. It moved from a domestic payment prototype to cross-border and securities clearing trials.

Then

The project showed tokenised settlement worked in controlled tests.

Now

It fed into Project Guardian, Singapore's effort to tokenise real-world assets on commercial rails.

Why this matters now

Ubin proved the technology; Hong Kong's pilot is testing whether it can run continuously with real bank money.

2021-2024

Project mBridge (2021-2024)

The Bank for International Settlements' innovation hub, the HKMA, the Bank of Thailand, the People's Bank of China and the Central Bank of the UAE built a multi-central-bank digital currency platform for cross-border payments. It reached a minimum viable product in 2024.

Then

The BIS handed the platform to participating central banks and stepped back.

Now

It left open whether multi-CBDC settlement can run at commercial scale without a neutral operator.

Why this matters now

mBridge showed the HKMA's appetite for tokenised cross-border settlement; Ensemble TX is the domestic, commercial-bank layer of that ambition.