Hong Kong has begun the pilot testing phase of tokenized deposits and crypto assets (Project Ensemble) using real-value transactions. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced last week that the launch moves the initiative from a sandbox experiment to payments with real value.
The HKMA said the project is critical to the country’s crypto roadmap, adding that the city is working to become a regional crypto hub. The new pilot is scheduled to run until 2026 and will initially focus on treasury management, tokenized money market fund trading, and real-time liquidity.
Hong Kong’s de facto central bank launched Project Ensemble’s sandbox in August 2024 with the aim of integrating tokenization into traditional banking operations through e-HKD. This sandbox has enabled banks and industry partners to experiment with tokenized deposits and test end-to-end crypto payments.
The HKMA also said that the HKD Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system will support interbank payments under pilot operation. It noted that the environment will be upgraded over time to support 24/7 tokenized central bank money (CeBM) payments.
Yue says the Ensemble Sandbox concept has become a reality
HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue said: said EnsembleTX marks a pivotal moment in the HKMA’s journey. He noted that the concepts and details tested in the Ensemble Sandbox are now in production and being applied to real-value transactions with tangible benefits.
Meanwhile, the HKMA said this milestone strengthens Hong Kong’s role as a pioneer in shaping the future of digital finance. The central banking institution has invited parties with innovative real-world use cases to leverage tokenized deposits to join this collaborative effort to develop a tokenization ecosystem in Hong Kong.
“Interoperability is key to scaling up the tokenization of investment products…An important step in that direction is the HKMA’s announcement today of an initiative to gradually enable interbank settlement of tokenized deposits in real time, 24/7.”
–julia leonCEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
Leung said the SFC is committed to working with the HKMA and market participants to advance tokenization use cases leveraging Ensemble TX. She believes this will help establish a dynamic and future-proof financial ecosystem in Hong Kong.
HSBC completes first transaction with EnsembleTX
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation completed its first transaction in EnsembleTX on November 13th. In this first transaction, Ant International transferred $489,000 (approximately HK$3.8 million) to a wallet held at another domestic bank. Vincent Lau, Global Head of Digital Money and Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, said: said This interoperability is an important step towards Hong Kong becoming a global hub for cryptocurrency innovation.
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), a subsidiary of Standard Chartered PLC, also completed two transactions leveraging two real value use cases for EnsembleTX. The first case involved interbank tokenized deposit transfers between Ant International entities. Meanwhile, the second case concerned the transfer of tokenized deposits to assist Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) to subscribe to China Asset Management (Hong Kong)’s tokenized money market fund (MMF).
Mary Fuen, CEO of Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) and Greater China and North Asia, said the success of these real-value trading use cases demonstrated the huge potential of tokenized assets to facilitate interbank payments. He also pointed out that tokenized deposits will play a key role in the next generation of financial market infrastructure.
In its 2025 policy speech, it unveiled plans to encourage commercial banks to introduce tokenized deposits and facilitate live trading of tokenized assets, promoting Project Ensemble. The HKMA and SFC will work together to advance the practical application of tokenization across diverse asset classes. The pair also vowed to expand EnsembleTX’s use cases to cover more areas within the financial industry.