Hong Kong expands tokenized settlement to 24/7 as HKMA plans stablecoin trials

Hong Kong has moved its Project Ensemble pilot into round-the-clock settlement for tokenized transactions, while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is preparing regulated stablecoins for trials tied to tokenized government debt. For banks, PSPs and issuers, the practical point is simple: the city is trying to make tokenized money usable outside normal settlement windows, not just in a lab.

1. On Monday, the HKMA said it had advanced its EnsembleTX project to a stage that allows 24/7 real-value transactions. The regulator said the update should help banks and their clients move funds globally, manage tokenized investments and handle treasury operations outside conventional settlement hours.
2. At the start, participating banks settled payments through Hong Kong’s existing dollar settlement system, which meant settlement hours were limited. When the pilot began real-value trials in November 2025, the HKMA said it planned to introduce tokenized central bank money so settlement could run around the clock.
3. The HKMA launched Project Ensemble in March 2024 to test how banks could settle tokenized transactions using wholesale central bank digital money. A sandbox opened that August, letting banks connect tokenized deposit platforms and test transactions. Speaking at Hong Kong FinTech Week on Monday, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said tokenized central bank money was being introduced as a “foundation layer” for 24/7 settlement, and that tokenized bonds, money market funds and bank deposits were already in use.
4. The regulator also said recognized dealers had completed secondary-market trial trades in tokenized Exchange Fund Bills, a form of short-term debt issued by the HKMA. It plans to expand those trials to include regulated stablecoins, which is the part payment people will care about: once stablecoins enter the same settlement stack, the line between treasury plumbing and merchant-facing token flows gets thinner.
5. Separately, HSBC Group CEO Georges Elhedery said at Hong Kong FinTech Week that the bank’s Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin, had reached 50,000 users about 10 days after launch. He said HSBC was targeting “multi-million users” as it widens access to the token. HSBC launched RedCoin on Oct. 23 for transfers and merchant payments through its PayMe application.

HSBC said more than 3.3 million PayMe customers could activate stablecoin wallets to use RedCoin, and that it also plans to add the token to its mobile banking app and allow subscriptions to tokenized investments, including a Hong Kong dollar money market fund share class. HSBC was among Hong Kong’s first licensed stablecoin issuers in April alongside Anchorpoint Financial, a venture backed by Animoca Brands and Standard Chartered. The city’s licensing regime was introduced in August 2025.