Hong Kong Gears Up for e-HKD: Phase Two Pilot Seeks CBDC Use Cases
Hong Kong’s central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), announced today the launch of the second phase of its e-HKD pilot program.
They also invite industry participants to propose potential use cases for the central bank digital currency (CBDC). This initiative aims to delve deeper into the potential of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the region.
Announced on March 14, the HKMA’s second phase of the e-HKD pilot aims further to explore the potential of a digital Hong Kong dollar, focusing on areas such as programmability, tokenization, and atomic settlement.
The HKMA expressed its intention to explore new use cases for the e-HKD while also revisiting promising applications identified during the first phase, which concluded in October 2023. The initial phase successfully tested the e-HKD for various domestic retail purposes, including programmable payments, settlement of tokenized assets, and offline transactions.
The HKMA highlighted that the upgraded e-HKD sandbox will benefit from Project Ensemble , a recently launched initiative focused on wholesale CBDCs. The regulatory sandbox is an essential mechanism in the HKMA’s work to improve the network around CBDCs, enabling the smooth integration of the e-HKD with the current financial system.
This collaboration aims to “accelerate the development and testing of use cases” for participants while examining interoperability between the e-HKD and other forms of digital currency. The e-HKD sandbox infrastructure will be central to the eventual introduction and integration of digital currency into Hong Kong’s financial market.
According to the HKMA’s pilot page, the second phase of the e-HKD pilot is expected to run until mid-2025. Organizations
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