Hong Kong has begun allowing interbank settlement of tokenized deposits 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including outside conventional banking hours. The expansion was announced this Monday (2) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and uses tokenized central bank money to complete transactions between financial institutions.
The feature is part of EnsembleTX, the pilot phase of Project Ensemble, which now brings together 12 banks and 20 pioneering organizations. The infrastructure allows participating institutions to move funds digitally and settle transactions without relying exclusively on the traditional operating windows of banking systems.
Launched in November 2025, EnsembleTX was already processing transactions with real value involving tokenized deposits and digital assets, initially using Hong Kong's real-time gross settlement system. The update expands this model to continuous interbank transactions with tokenized central bank money.
Tokenized deposits digitally represent funds held at commercial banks. Unlike private stablecoins, they remain linked to regulated bank deposits. The system also does not correspond to a retail digital currency available to the public.
Julia Leung, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, said that “tokenized deposits can now enable uninterrupted transactions”, including corporate treasury activities and secondary trading of tokenized funds on licensed platforms.
Standard Chartered already conducts corporate transactions
On the same day, Standard Chartered announced the launch of its tokenized deposit service in Hong Kong, the first market in which the bank offers the solution to corporate clients.
According to the institution, China AMC, Finloop and PantherTrade have already carried out real transactions involving tokenized deposits and settlement of transactions with tokenized money market funds through the EnsembleTX infrastructure.
The service uses Standard Chartered's own blockchain platform, connected to the interbank settlement system. The solution enables real-time transfers between participating banks and corporate liquidity management operations.
Access remains limited to eligible clients and participating institutions, not representing an unrestricted opening of tokenized payments to the public. Standard Chartered intends to expand the offering to other markets but has not announced a timeline.
