HKMA enables 24/7 settlement for 32 EnsembleTX participants

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said on Nov. 2 that EnsembleTX, the pilot phase of Project Ensemble, can settle tokenised deposit transactions between banks in tokenised central bank money around the clock. The pilot now includes 12 banks and 20 industry participants.

The upgrade removes the previous reliance on Hong Kong’s HKD Real Time Gross Settlement system during its operating hours for the interbank settlement leg. Participating institutions can use tokenised central bank money, including wholesale central bank digital currency, to settle transactions at any time.

Project Ensemble began as a controlled pilot in November 2025. At that stage, banks could transfer tokenised deposits, but the interbank settlement leg depended on the HKD RTGS system. The new arrangement places tokenised commercial bank deposits and tokenised central bank money on the same settlement rail.

A tokenised deposit is a transferable digital representation of a deposit held with a commercial bank. It remains a liability of that bank. Tokenised central bank money is a digital claim on the central bank. Using both forms of money on one rail allows corporate treasury transfers, tokenised money market fund transactions and securities settlements to take place outside conventional banking hours.

The HKMA identified Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank (Asia), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and HSBC among the 12 participating banks. Ant International, BlackRock and China Asset Management (Hong Kong) were among the 20 industry participants named by the authority. The HKMA has not disclosed how many of the 32 participants are currently conducting transactions through tokenised central bank money.

The authority described the latest phase as a shift from experimentation and piloting to commercialisation. Eddie Yue, the HKMA’s chief executive, noted that banks in several markets had begun introducing tokenised deposit products and expected their use to increase alongside digital assets.

Julia Leung, chief executive of the Securities and Futures Commission, linked the technology to around-the-clock corporate treasury transactions and secondary trading of tokenised funds on licensed platforms. The HKMA is working with the SFC on rules for tokenised market infrastructure.

The HKMA also completed trial trades involving recognised dealers in the secondary market for tokenised Exchange Fund Bills. It plans to expand the trials to regulated stablecoins.

Standard Chartered launched a tokenised deposit service for corporate clients in Hong Kong on Nov. 2. Hong Kong is the first of the bank’s 55 markets to receive the service. The product uses the bank’s blockchain and EnsembleTX infrastructure and is available to corporate treasurers, banks, investment platforms and digital-asset businesses. It is not offered to retail customers.

The bank’s tokenised deposits remain recorded on its balance sheet. China Asset Management, Finloop and PantherTrade have completed live transactions linked to tokenised money market funds, according to Standard Chartered. Fireblocks is adding banking functions for digital-asset clients, and HashKey has joined the wider ecosystem.

Standard Chartered plans to expand the service to other markets over time. The bank has not provided a timetable for that expansion. EnsembleTX’s participating institutions and the number of completed transactions using tokenised central bank money have not been disclosed.

Reviewed and fact-checked by Alex Panasenko on November 5.