Ripple revealed it would collaborate with Fubon Bank in Hong Kong to explore real estate asset tokenization using the e-HKD.
Xu Luosheng, executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Fubon Bank Hong Kong, announced that the bank would launch a pilot program that would concentrate on client refund requests.
The trial will use Ripple’s specialized technology to tokenize real estate liens and offer digital Hong Kong dollar (HKD) loans. Customers who obtain these loans will be able to make various payments using the digital HKD, expanding the usefulness and use of the digital currency.
In an interview, Xu Luosheng stated that the trial’s primary focus would be people looking for mortgages. The bank will digitize real Hong Kong dollars using Ripple’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) technology at a set 1-to-1 ratio for testing purposes.
Customers can apply for loans more efficiently by using Fubon’s eHKD e-wallet to obtain current data, including loan-to-value ratios (LTV), stress test results, and property appraisals.
Digital Hong Kong dollars are not issued as part of the test program. Instead, Fubon Bank will keep offering its present mortgage loan services to clients who wish to submit an application for a bigger mortgage after the trial.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s first e-HKD pilot program would leverage real estate asset tokenization, according to a recent announcement by Ripple and Fubon Bank.
Ripple’s CBDC director compares tech to XRPL
The Fubon bank executive noted that Ripple has been engaged in numerous initiatives in numerous nations and areas and has been working on similar technology for some time.
Citing established systems like FPS and Octopus, Xu Luosheng acknowledges the maturity of Hong Kong’s payment ecosystem. He suggested that loans be issued as the currency’s initial real-world use to encourage the widespread adoption of the digital Hong Kong dollar.
Customers can use digital Hong Kong dollar loans for various things, such as purchasing a home or making investments, which promotes the use of the currency.
Ross Edwards, the CBDC director at Ripple, emphasized that the company’s strategy integrates the hypothetical digital Hong Kong dollar with tokenized real estate and financial lending agreements using technology comparable to XRP Ledger (XRPL).
In addition to taking part in regional CBDC programs, Ripple is actively collaborating with numerous national central banks. Currently, Ripple is investigating digital currency use cases for retail, cross-border, and wholesale payments in Bhutan.
Ripple is helping the government of Palau develop a national stablecoin that is pegged to the US dollar in the meanwhile.
