Hong Kong’s e-HKD Initiative Advances with Promising Use Cases and CBDC Network
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has been actively conducting tests on the programmability of the e-HKD, their proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC).
HKMA’s CEO, Eddie Yue, recently shed light on these tests, emphasizing the ability to set specific usage limits for the e-HKD. The Bank of China in Hong Kong has been a part of these trials, collaborating with ten companies to enable customers to use e-HKD in various retail payment promotions. Notably, Yue sees potential in programmable payments, tokenized deposits, and tokenized assets as interesting use cases for e-HKD. However, he underlines that the project is still in its trial phase, emphasizing the need to identify use cases that offer greater safety, speed, or convenience than current retail payments.
Additionally, HKMA actively participates in Project Mbridge, jointly testing a CBDC network with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and central banks in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The testing phase aims to address critical policy issues such as governance and liquidity provisions, with the goal of launching a minimum viable product by mid-2024. This timeline contradicts earlier reports by Reuters, which suggested a potential minimum working product by the year-end. Mbridge is closely monitored by various central banks due to concerns that it could be used to circumvent Western sanctions and financial restrictions.
Clever Robot News Desk 13th October 2023
