HKMA Moves to 24/7 Tokenized Settlement, Plans Stablecoin Trials

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Nov. 2 that its EnsembleTX project has advanced to 24/7 real-value tokenized settlement, moving beyond traditional banking hours. The regulator plans to extend the trials to regulated stablecoins next.

Details

According to the HKMA, Recognised Dealers have already completed secondary-market transactions in tokenized Exchange Fund Bills, which the authority says improves efficiency in repo and secondary trading. Round-the-clock settlement is meant to support dynamic global allocation of funds, management of tokenized asset portfolios and better treasury management.

After the Exchange Fund Bills phase, the HKMA intends to bring regulated stablecoins into the trials. Separately, it joined Cyberport to launch tConnect Launchpad, where financial institutions, tech firms and digital-asset developers test new tokenization use cases. The HKMA also said Hong Kong's Faster Payment System will connect to UnionPay International by the end of 2026, opening QR payments at more than 100 million merchants in Hong Kong, mainland China and 40+ overseas markets.

The announcement was reported by Cointelegraph. The pilot is part of Project Ensemble, launched in March 2024, with real-value trials running since November 2025.

What this means for the market

Round-the-clock settlement in tokenized central bank money removes a core limit of legacy infrastructure: nights and weekends when funds cannot move. If stablecoins join the trials, licensed issuers could gain an official settlement channel with banks.

The news follows HSBC's launch of RedCoin, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, which we covered on Oct. 23. For the live bitcoin price, see the daily brief; for stablecoins, the Tether page.