On 23 September 2024, the HKMA officially commenced Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme (“Phase 2”), which explores innovative use cases for new forms of digital money, including e-HKD and tokenised deposits. This initiative is part of the newly renamed Project e-HKD+ to reflect the evolving fintech landscape and the HKMA’s commitment to maximizing the potential of digital currency.
Under Phase 2, 11 firms from various sectors will investigate use cases for e-HKD and tokenised deposits across three themes: (i) settlement of tokenised assets; (ii) programmability; and (iii) offline payments. The selected firms will assess the commercial feasibility of new digital money forms in real-world settings, assisting the HKMA in addressing the practical issues related to designing and operating a digital money ecosystem that includes both publicly and privately issued digital money for potential future use by individuals and corporations.
The HKMA will establish the e-HKD Industry Forum to create a collaborative platform for institutions to discuss common issues and explore the scalable implementation of new digital money forms. Industry-led working groups will initially focus on issues related to programmability. Similar to Phase 1, an e-HKD sandbox will also be provided to pilot participants to enhance prototyping, development and testing of use cases.
Over the next 12 months, the HKMA will work closely with the selected firms, aiming to share key lessons with the public by the end of 2025.
The press release can be found here.
