The multinational HSBC bank’s Hong Kong branch plans to keep collaborating with the government on projects, including using digital currencies for cross-border payments.
HSBC Hong Kong is pushing forward with implementing digital currencies for cross-border payments in collaboration with local authorities.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, HSBC HK CEO Luanne Lim said the bank also plans to engage in tokenization of financial instruments and central bank digital currencies pilots in Hong Kong to bring “efficiency, transparency and lower costs to traditional finance,” though specific details were not disclosed.
In Hong Kong, HSBC has been at the forefront of financial innovation. A first for the city, the bank permitted its customers to trade Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) futures through its investing platform in June 2023.
Later, in November 2023, HSBC and a company owned by Ripple collaborated on a blockchain project aimed at institutional customers interested in real-world assets (RWA) stored on-chain. Regulators such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) have indicated that they are willing to consider applications for approving cryptocurrency exposure funds.
Early in December, PitchBook researchers disclosed that over 11% of worldwide venture capital funding in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space went to businesses with headquarters in Singapore and Hong Kong. This represents a significant increase from the pitiful 2% allotted in 2021.
