HSBC launches tokenised deposit service for corporate clients in Hong Kong - Trade Treasury Payments

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HSBC launches tokenised deposit service for corporate clients in Hong Kong

HSBC has announced the launch of its Tokenised Deposit Service for corporate clients in Hong Kong. The initiative represents the first live deployment of a bank-led blockchain-based deposit system in the market and is aimed at enhancing treasury operations through real-time, round-the-clock settlements in HKD and USD.

The new infrastructure, developed in-house, facilitates instant payments between corporate wallets held within HSBC. It has been designed to support a range of digital money applications, including use cases under the HKMA’s Project Ensemble—an initiative focused on advancing tokenised finance and wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) infrastructure.

Ant International is the first corporate client to use the service. The firm conducted a tokenised internal fund transfer between its entities via HSBC’s infrastructure, using its proprietary Whale platform to execute the transaction. According to both parties, the process enabled faster settlement and improved internal liquidity visibility.

The service follows a prior collaboration between HSBC and Ant International in the HKMA’s Ensemble Sandbox. In October 2024, the two firms participated in a cross-bank pilot to evaluate the use of tokenised deposits for real-time corporate treasury management. Learnings from that pilot informed the development of the current system.

The Tokenised Deposit Service is the first live initiative supported by the HKMA’s Supervisory Sandbox for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The sandbox enables financial institutions to pilot blockchain-based innovations within a regulated environment.

According to HSBC, the new service is designed to meet the compliance and operational standards required for institutional use and the launch contributes to broader efforts to develop a functional and scalable digital money infrastructure in Hong Kong. 

HSBC is among the first institutions to complete proof-of-concept trials under Project Ensemble, which explore interoperability between tokenised deposits and other digital assets across distributed ledger platforms. The service is expected to evolve as tokenised financial products gain broader market adoption.