HKUST Business School and HSBC have worked together to complete a one-week Hypothetical e-HKD pilot. This collaboration represents the latest efforts of the academia and private sector in support of the exploration and experimentation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Hong Kong under the purview of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
HSBC has for this pilot designed and configured a platform leveraging Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to simulate the payment infrastructure necessary for programmable money and instant settlement in different retail settings. Nearly 200 HKUST students and faculty members enrolled to join this pilot between September 16-22, with each receiving 100 Hypothetical e-HKD tokens in a dedicated digital wallet to spend at five on-campus merchants. Participating merchants included cafes and canteens.
The one-week Hypothetical e-HKD pilot was held at five on-campus merchants in HKUST. Pictured here are Bojan Obradović, Chief Digital Officer Hong Kong, HSBC (second left), Prof. TAM Kar Yan, Dean of HKUST Business School (second right), and participating students.
Prof. TAM Kar Yan, Dean of HKUST Business School, said: “With our school’s fintech expertise, and our students' and faculty members’ open minds towards trying out new tech, HKUST is an ideal site for CBDC experimentation and fertile ground for understanding its possibilities.”
Bojan OBRADOVIC, Chief Digital Officer Hong Kong at HSBC, said: “The experience, combined with our strong digital and transaction banking capabilities, has enabled us to design, build and operate the HKUST pilot in just four months. People have shown a keen interest to take part in the program.”
Insights gained from this pilot will serve as a foundation for future experimentation and research. Leveraging HKUST’s fintech research, the pilot aims to demonstrate the potential benefits of CBDC which will be published in Q4 2023.
Explore more with Prof. TAM and Bojan.