Hong Kong is accelerating its financial technology initiatives across tokenised debt, stablecoins, and artificial intelligence, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said on October 23, 2026.
Tokenisation and digital assets
Speaking ahead of Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival 2026, Hui stated that Hong Kong has concluded the first phase of a joint review with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) regarding distributed ledger technology in the fixed income market. The review confirmed that the local legal framework accommodates tokenised bond issuances, alongside a clarification that registers of debenture holders maintained via distributed ledger technology satisfy record-keeping rules under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622).
By the end of last year, banks in Hong Kong held over $14 billion in digital assets under custody, while tokenised deposits reached $29 billion, according to Hui. Last month, the government completed its fourth digital green bond issuance, raising approximately $20 billion equivalent and integrating tokenised Hong Kong dollar deposits into the settlement process.
Under the government's Policy Statement 2.0 on digital assets, the HKMA granted stablecoin issuer licences to two entities in April 2026. Hui said one licensee began issuing a regulated Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin in August 2026, with the second expected to issue its stablecoin soon.
AI adoption and data infrastructure
Hong Kong regulators are also expanding artificial intelligence and data infrastructure. Hui highlighted the Generative AI Sandbox++, organized alongside Cyberport by the HKMA, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Insurance Authority, and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority.
The sandbox initiative has broadened to sectors including banking, securities and capital markets, asset and wealth management, insurance, mandatory provident funds, and stored value facilities.
To strengthen data sharing, the government is encouraging departments and institutions to connect with the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) and examine the feasibility of automated payment. Hui noted that this will allow banks to perform business registration searches through CDI, improving credit approval efficiency.
Commodities and exchange pilots
Hui also reported that the government commenced trial operations for a central clearing and settlement system for over-the-counter gold transactions, backed by a central digital ledger linked to designated storage vaults. The system is scheduled for an official launch in the first quarter of next year with connections to the Real Time Gross Settlement system to support Delivery versus Payment settlement.
In addition, the SFC plans to update its regulatory framework to facilitate the issuance and trading of tokenised gold and real-world assets on licensed platforms. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited is preparing a blockchain-backed multi-asset tokenisation platform and a pilot project for tokenised warehouse-receipt financing next year.
Key facts and where they come from
- Banks in Hong Kong held more than $14 billion in digital assets under custody by the end of last year.
By the end of last year, banks in Hong Kong held more than $14 billion in digital assets under custody, while tokenised deposits reached $29 billion.
- The government raised approximately $20 billion equivalent in its fourth digital green bond issuance.
the Government completed its fourth digital green bond issuance, raising approximately $20 billion equivalent and setting another global record for the largest digital bond issuance in the world.
- The HKMA issued stablecoin licenses to two entities in April 2026.
In particular, the HKMA granted stablecoin issuer licences to two entities in April this year, with one licensed issuer beginning to issue its regulated HKD-pegged stablecoin in August 2026
- The trial operation of a central digital ledger system for over-the-counter gold clearing has begun.
the Government has commenced the trial operation of the central clearing and settlement system for over-the-counter gold transactions. In this system, we have established a central digital ledger
