The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched the Project Ensemble Architecture Community (PEAC) to collaborate with various industry stakeholders in advancing Hong Kong’s tokenization market. This initiative seeks to establish a framework of industry standards aimed at enhancing interoperability among different digital assets, including wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (wCBDC), tokenized money, and tokenized assets.
PEAC’s initial focus will be to develop a mechanism to facilitate seamless interbank settlement of tokenized deposits through wCBDC, specifically for transactions involving tokenized assets. Furthermore, the Community will play a crucial role in the design and execution of the Project Ensemble Sandbox. Scheduled to commence around mid-2024, this sandbox will provide a controlled environment to explore and test various tokenization use cases.
The Community boasts a diverse group of participants, spanning regulatory bodies, international organizations, academic institutions, and significant entities from both local and global financial and technology sectors. Key members include the HKMA, the Securities and Futures Commission, the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, the CBDC Expert Group, and prominent private sector firms such as Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, HashKey Group, Ant Digital Technologies, and Microsoft Hong Kong.
PEAC’s composition and strategy are based on meticulous consideration of the members’ expertise and their potential contributions to the tokenization market, as well as their experience, competency in relevant fields, and innovative capabilities. The HKMA has expressed its commitment to ongoing collaboration with these industry leaders and will continually evaluate and adjust the Community’s size and makeup to meet evolving needs.
