The Banque de France (BDF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have formalized their collaboration on wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) and tokenization through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This initiative complements their ongoing joint endeavors on various significant projects.
According to a statement by the HKMA, the collaboration aims to explore the interoperability between their respective CBDC infrastructures and enhance efficiency in cross-border transaction settlements. The BDF has already established the DL3S infrastructure to facilitate the introduction of CBDCs, while the HKMA will utilize its Project Ensemble sandbox for further research.
Project Ensemble, launched by the HKMA in March, focuses on studying asset tokenization and developing a CBDC framework to support these initiatives. It involves collaboration with a diverse group including Hong Kong regulators, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), major local banks, HashKey crypto exchange, Ant Digital Technologies, and Microsoft Hong Kong. Research and testing for the project are set to commence in the middle of the year.
Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the BDF, highlighted that the HKMA and BDF are also participating together in other international projects. Notably, the HKMA joined the European Central Bank’s second phase of distributed ledger technology testing in the same week as the MoU’s announcement. These tests focus on enhancing interoperability among blockchain modules for settling tokenized government bonds.
The BDF is an observer in Project mBridge, the largest CBDC-related initiative to date, whereas the HKMA has been actively progressing with its e-HKD CBDC since 2021, now advancing into the latter stages of its pilot phase. This includes extensive research into various CBDC applications, including retail e-HKD trials in collaboration with the BIS under Project Aurum. Additionally, the HKMA has engaged in partnerships with the BIS, the United Nations for developing tokenized “green” bonds, and with Ripple and Visa to explore real estate tokenization.
Source:
HKMA