A total of 25 institutions participated in the first phase of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Ensemble project sandbox, including HSBC, BOC Hong Kong, Hang Seng and Standard Chartered

According to official news, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched the Ensemble Project Sandbox to promote tokenized applications. In the first phase, a total of 25 institutions participated, including the four major banks, namely HSBC, Bank of China Hong Kong, Hang Seng and Standard Chartered, as well as Ant Digital Technology and HashKey Group. The HKMA has completed the construction of the sandbox, which aims to promote interbank settlement using experimental tokenized currencies and focus on tokenized asset transactions. The participating banks of the Ensemble Project Architecture Working Group (Working Group) have connected their tokenized deposit platforms to the sandbox to prepare for the future experiments of cross-bank payment simultaneous delivery and cash and delivery settlement. After fully considering the industry's intentions, market development trends and the potential impact of innovative developments, the first phase of the sandbox will cover the tokenization of traditional financial assets and real-world assets, and focus on four major themes: fixed income and investment funds, liquidity management, green and sustainable finance, and trade and supply chain financing. To consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international financial center and explore new economic areas with an innovative spirit, the HKMA will continue to actively communicate with the industry to understand their interest in tokenization development and jointly develop and identify new themes and use cases related to tokenization. At the international level, the HKMA will also explore opportunities for collaboration with the Hong Kong Center under the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub on one or more tokenization themes, and work with members of the CBDC Expert Group to leverage their expertise to further promote the development of the sandbox.