HSBC and Ant International have completed HKD-denominated cross-bank blockchain-based test transactions under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Ensemble Sandbox.
Launched in March this year, Project Ensemble is the HKMA’s wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) project aimed at fostering the development of tokenization in Hong Kong.
The Project Ensemble Sandbox enables companies to research and test tokenization use cases including the settlement of tokenized monies and tokenized real-world assets, amongst others.
Ant International and HSBC’s use case integrates HSBC’s and Hang Seng Bank’s networks with Ant International’s blockchain-based treasury management Whale platform to support real-time tokenized deposit transfers with 24/7 availability.
The endeavour is part of an initiative to develop a global liquidity management network that allows banks to connect to and exchange their tokens, enabling cross-border payments to be conducted around the clock in real time.
Vincent Lau, global head of digital money, Global Payments Solutions, HSBC, says: “The latest test case demonstrates the potential of tokenised deposits in facilitating real-time cross-bank corporate treasury management through the Ensemble interoperability platform. We look forward to exploring further use cases with more Project Ensemble participants to better serve our clients' needs in payment and treasury management.”
HSBC has completed three PoC use cases within the Ensemble Sandbox, with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of exchange of tokenised deposits and digital assets, as well as the transfer of deposit tokens between blockchains of different financial institutions.