Hong Kong Puts Tokenization at the Core of Its Fintech 2030 Strategy

Hong Kong is planning on strengthening its position as a global fintech hub by making tokenization an integral part of its new Fintech 2030 strategy. The plan was unveiled by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) during the Hong Kong Fintech Week. This is a five-year roadmap that outlines a comprehensive plan based on four strategic pillars referred to as “DART.” The is an abbreviation for Data, Artificial Intelligence, Resilience, and Tokenization. The new initiative will be applied across 40 initiatives that are designed to accelerate digital transformation in the financial sector in Hong Kong.

Tokenization A Major Part of Hong Kong’s 2030 Fintech Strategy

According to the HKMA, the new initiative is designed to drive the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) such as financial instruments like government bonds. The financial authority is also planning on regularizing the issuance of tokenized government bonds and exploring the tokenization of Exchange Fund Papers. This signals a strong government endorsement of the blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

The authority body has also revealed the progress of its 2-HKD project. The e-HKD is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot that recently completed its testing phase. The trial demonstrated successful use cases of the digital currency for settling offline transactions, programmable payments, and tokenized assets. Thanks to this testing, the HKMA now has the groundwork for large-scale adoption. The authority also emphasized that blockchain settlements will increasingly rely on “new forms of digital money,” which include regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits.

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The Fintech 2030 plan also highlights the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into Hong Kong’s financial ecosystem. The HKMA revealed that it aims to leverage AI to enhance personalization in banking services, responsiveness, and accessibility while maintaining accountability and transparency to strengthen the public’s trust.

To advance these objectives, the HKMA aims to launch Project Ensemble. It is a collaborative pilot with industry participants and other central banks to further explore tokenized financial products and blockchain-based settlements.

With AI and tokenization at its core, Hong Kong’s Fintech 2030 strategy presents the city’s most ambitious push towards a globally competitive financial future.