France, Hong Kong regulators sign MOU to explore wholesale CBDCs, tokenization

The Banque de France (BDF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced a collaboration focusing on wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the tokenization of financial assets.

According to the press release, the partnership marks a significant milestone in promoting financial innovation and enhancing interoperability in digital currencies.

The HKMA’s participation in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Eurosystem exploratory work represents a major step forward, making it one of the first central banking institutions outside the Eurosystem to join the initiative.

Interoperability

Through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the BDF and HKMA aim to advance the study of wholesale CBDCs and tokenization. The MoU strengthens communication and collaboration, laying the groundwork for advancements in new technologies.

Both the BDF and the HKMA have established themselves as pioneers in the field of CBDCs. The collaboration will focus on the interoperability between the BDF’s DL3S infrastructure and the HKMA’s Project Ensemble Sandbox.

The HKMA’s Project Ensemble, announced earlier this year, aims to explore innovative financial market infrastructure for interbank settlement of tokenized money through wholesale CBDCs.

The experiment seeks to optimize settlement efficiency in international transactions and enhance interoperability between financial market infrastructures in different jurisdictions.

Surging interest

The interest in CBDCs has surged globally, with 94% of central banks exploring the potential for digital currencies amid calls urging adoption to stay competitive with private digital currencies.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have become vocal advocates for CBDCs, emphasizing their role in modernizing the financial system and improving the efficiency of cross-border transactions.

The BIS has also expressed support for tokenization initiatives, which involve converting physical assets into digital tokens on a blockchain. The process aims to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and security of financial transactions. The BIS’s tokenization projects, such as Project Promissa and Project Aurum, focus on digitizing financial instruments and exploring privacy aspects of CBDCs.

Most central banks are currently focusing on wholesale CBDCs, which cater to large transactions between financial institutions, rather than retail CBDCs aimed at the general public. The likelihood of central banks issuing wholesale CBDCs within the next six years is higher than that of retail CBDCs, which some regulators believe carry the risk of destabilizing the financial system.

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