What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: The HKMA said on 2 November 2026 that EnsembleTX now supports interbank settlement of tokenised deposit transactions in tokenised central bank money on a 24/7 basis; participating banks increased from seven to 12 and industry pioneers from 13 to 20.
- Institutions involved: The main institutions are the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, EnsembleTX/Project Ensemble, and participating banks including Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank (Asia), ICBC (Asia), Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), and HSBC.
- Regulatory/technical context: EnsembleTX is the pilot phase of Project Ensemble. It initially used Hong Kong’s HKD RTGS system for interbank settlement of tokenised deposit transactions after its November 2025 launch, and the new setup adds tokenised central bank money so settlement is no longer confined to RTGS operating hours.
- What to watch next: The HKMA said it will keep working with the SFC to support tokenised financial-market infrastructure and scale more tokenisation use cases; no specific next milestone beyond that was identified.
Why it matters
Always-on tokenised central bank money settlement could make tokenised deposits and related asset transactions more usable for corporate treasury and fund activity by removing operating-hour constraints on the interbank settlement leg.
HKMA Relevance
Direct: The HKMA is the actor and subject, announcing a concrete payments and tokenisation infrastructure upgrade under Project Ensemble.