Overview
- The authority completed the second pilot phase and will prioritize institutional uses over everyday retail payments.
- Financial institutions have tested the digital currency for interbank cross-border settlement and securities transactions.
- The HKMA set no launch date for wholesale use, saying deployment depends on technology, emerging use cases and user attitudes.
- Trials indicated e-HKD and tokenized deposits can enable programmable, cost-effective transactions, and the HKMA plans common tokenization standards with policy, legal and technical preparations targeted for mid-2026.
- Phase II comprised 11 projects with banks and technology firms, including a Bank of China Hong Kong voucher test with about 500 participants, and the regulator aims to recruit more large institutions for future pilots.