Summary
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched phase two of its e-HKD pilot program to explore programmability, atomic settlement, and tokenization. The central bank is still uncertain about moving forward with a CBDC but will continue research on how CBDCs would interact in a digital money landscape. Organizations can apply to participate in the second phase until mid-May. Last week, Hong Kong unveiled Project Ensemble to test tokenization use cases. Phase one of the CBDC pilot found that it could improve customer protections and trust through smart contracts.
Key Points
1. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched phase two of its e-HKD pilot program, focusing on programmability, atomic settlement, and tokenization to explore new use cases.
2. The second phase of the program will utilize an enhanced e-HKD sandbox to accelerate the prototyping, development, and testing of use cases, as well as study interoperability and interbank settlement with other forms of tokenized money.
3. Organizations can apply to participate in the second phase until mid-May, and the HKMA will continue engaging with local and international stakeholders on the latest developments of CBDCs.