Hong Kong Monetary Authority: Seven banks hope to launch tokenized deposits within the year

According to ChainCatcher, citing a report from Hong Kong media Hong Kong Economic Journal, Zhou Wenzheng, Assistant Chief Executive (Financial Infrastructure) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), stated that based on the intentions received by the HKMA, seven banks have already expressed their hope to launch tokenized deposits this year.

In addition, regarding market rumors that the HKMA will temporarily not advance the retail application of the digital Hong Kong dollar, HKMA Deputy Chief Executive Li Dazhi responded: "We have not ruled out the retail application of stablecoins. We believe there are significant opportunities for using stablecoins in retail, but the actual use cases will still be determined by commercial institutions." Li Dazhi further added that the digital Hong Kong dollar, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits are similar in technical nature, with the only difference being the issuer. The digital Hong Kong dollar is a "public currency," while tokenized deposits and stablecoins are both "private currencies." The digital Hong Kong dollar and tokenized deposits tend to use private chains, while stablecoins are mostly issued on public chains.