Hong Kong Monetary Authority Advances e-HKD Tests, Mbridge Project

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has precocious completed a bid of tests regarding the programmability of the e-HKD, the projected Hong Kong cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC). While inactive successful its archetypal phases, the e-HKD presents “interesting” usage cases, HKMA CEO Eddie Yue stressed. He besides revealed that the Mbridge task aims to person a minimum viable merchandise for mid-2024.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority Advances e-HKD Research

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has precocious offered caller penetration into the antithetic tests conducted with the e-HKD, a projected cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC). Eddie Yue, CEO of the HKMA, revealed that these tests focused connected the programmable relation of the e-HKD, allowing the issuer to found definite limits successful which the integer currency tin beryllium used.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), this diagnostic was tested by the Bank of China successful Hong Kong this month. Furthermore, the slope has teamed up with 10 firms, allowing customers to usage the e-HKD successful assorted retail outgo promotions.

On the value of these tests, Yue stated:

There are immoderate absorbing usage cases of e-HKD successful the areas similar programmable payments, and successful caller areas similar tokenised deposits and tokenised assets.

However, Yue elaborate that e-HKD was inactive conscionable successful its proceedings stages, stressing that the HKMA had to “find a usage lawsuit that is amended than the existent retail payments. Because if you are not either safer, faster, oregon much convenient, past it volition not beryllium doable.”

Project Mbridge

The HKMA is besides a portion of Project Mbridge, a CBDC web presently being tested jointly with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the cardinal banks of Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Regarding this test, Yue stressed that the 4 participants were moving retired “important argumentation issues similar governance and liquidity provisions,” getting acceptable to motorboat a minimum viable merchandise by mid-2024.

Yue’s estimations disagree from what Reuters, citing 4 radical with cognition connected the subject, reported successful August erstwhile it informed that Mbridge mightiness person a minimum moving merchandise acceptable by year-end. Mbridge is presently nether the ticker of respective cardinal banks, which fearfulness it could beryllium utilized to determination funds beyond the limits and sanctions of Western countries.

What bash you deliberation astir the e-HKD tests conducted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Mbridge project? Tell america successful the comments conception below.