Tokenized Deposits in Hong Kong Now Settle Around the Clock

Interbank transfers of tokenized deposits in Hong Kong can now settle 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the change on November 2, 2026, under its EnsembleTX pilot. In the same week, Ant International reported Hong Kong dollar transfers between banks that arrived within five minutes of the payment instruction.

A tokenized deposit is an ordinary bank deposit recorded as a token on a blockchain-based ledger. The money remains a customer deposit at a licensed bank. What changes is how it moves: faster, programmable, and no longer tied to the operating hours of the payment system.

HKMA opens 24/7 settlement for tokenized deposits

EnsembleTX is the pilot phase of Project Ensemble, the HKMA initiative for testing tokenization in Hong Kong’s financial sector. In a November 2, 2026 press release, the HKMA said EnsembleTX now supports interbank settlement of tokenized deposit transactions in tokenized central bank money. Settlement runs 24/7, so participants can complete transactions outside conventional operating hours.

The number of participating banks has risen to 12, and the number of industry pioneers testing the system has risen to 20. Those pioneers use tokenized deposits for two main purposes: corporate treasury management and transactions in tokenized money market funds.

HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said Project Ensemble has moved from experimentation and piloting to a phase focused on commercializing tokenization applications in Hong Kong. Julia Leung, chief executive officer of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), added that tokenized deposits can now support round-the-clock transactions, including secondary trading of tokenized funds on licensed platforms.

The step builds on the launch of EnsembleTX on November 13, 2025. At the time, interbank settlement ran through Hong Kong’s HKD Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system. The HKMA said the pilot would run throughout 2026 and be upgraded in stages toward 24/7 settlement in tokenized central bank money.

Ant International’s transfers through WhaleRTP

Ant International, a fintech company that has taken part in Project Ensemble since 2024, is among the first pioneers to use the new setup. In a press release distributed by Business Wire on November 2, 2026, U.S. time, the company said it carried out live Hong Kong dollar interbank transactions between September and October 2026. The banks involved were Bank of China (Hong Kong), or BOCHK, China Construction Bank (Asia), and HSBC.

The transactions were initiated through WhaleRTP, Ant International’s blockchain-based wholesale settlement platform, and settled in HKMA central bank money. According to TNGlobal and The Paypers, each transfer moved from payment instruction to final receipt within five minutes.

Ant International listed several benefits: automated transaction execution, round-the-clock access to liquidity, and real-time cash management in Hong Kong. The company also claims the approach reduces its reliance on prefunding and lowers the working capital it must hold. It did not publish figures for those savings, and the claims have not been independently verified.

Prefunding is money placed in advance in a destination bank account so that payments can go out without waiting for incoming transfers. Companies with accounts at many banks usually keep buffer balances in each one, especially before weekends and public holidays. If interbank transfers can complete in minutes at any hour, the need for those buffers can shrink.

These were not Ant International’s first EnsembleTX transactions. On November 13, 2025, HSBC moved HKD3.8 million in tokenized deposits for Ant International to the company’s wallet at another domestic bank. HSBC described it as one of the first transactions in EnsembleTX.

Next step: treasury run by AI agents

Ant International plans to use EnsembleTX as the foundation for what it calls agentic treasury, in which AI agents make and execute corporate cash management decisions. Kelvin Li, general manager of platform tech and senior vice president at Ant International, said: “EnsembleTX has laid the groundwork for agentic treasury.”

Under that plan, Ant International’s FalconTST AI engine supplies real-time analysis while WhaleRTP handles settlement. Ant International has not announced a timeline or the limits it will place on those agents.

How tokenized deposits work

In a conventional interbank transfer, the sending bank debits the customer’s balance in its core system and sends an instruction through the national payment system. The receiving bank credits its customer once the interbank leg settles at the central bank. That process follows the payment system’s operating hours.

With tokenized deposits, the customer’s balance is also recorded as tokens on a blockchain ledger. Tokens move between banks through an interoperability layer that connects each bank’s system. In EnsembleTX, the interbank leg now settles in tokenized central bank money, so transactions can complete at any time.

HSBC, which launched its Tokenised Deposit Service for corporate clients in Hong Kong in May 2025, cites four main benefits: 24/7 availability, lower costs, reduced working capital needs, and programmability. Programmability means a company can trigger payments directly from its own systems based on business rules it sets, for example paying a supplier as soon as goods are received at the warehouse.

How they differ from stablecoins

Tokenized deposits are often confused with stablecoins because both are tokens with a fixed value. The difference lies in who issues them and what they represent. Tokenized deposits are issued by licensed banks and represent customer deposits, so they fall under banking supervisors. Stablecoins are usually issued by non-bank companies and represent a claim on reserves managed by the issuer, under rules that vary by country.

For banks, the distinction matters. Tokenized deposits let a bank offer blockchain-style speed and programmability without moving customer funds off its balance sheet. We have covered another side of tokenization before, the DTCC securities tokenization service, which targets securities. EnsembleTX targets the money used to pay for securities and to run corporate cash.

What this means for banks and companies in Indonesia

Hong Kong is one of Asia’s main financial centers. Indonesian companies with subsidiaries, accounts, or trading partners there may be among the first to feel the change in how banks move money. Finance teams can start preparing now.

First, map the cash flows most often held up by cut-off times. Examples include transfers between group entities over weekends, payments to overseas suppliers, and buffer balances kept at several banks.

Second, tidy up integration between the ERP, the treasury system, and banking services. Programmable payments only help when invoice, goods receipt, and approval data are recorded cleanly and readable by systems through APIs. Teams building financial services solutions need every automated payment to leave a clear audit trail.

Third, set automation limits from the start. Ant International’s agentic treasury idea is appealing, but organizations still need rules on the maximum value that can be executed without human approval, who signs off on exceptions, and how to stop a flow when something goes wrong.

Indonesia’s position through Project Garuda

In Indonesia, similar exploration is under way through Bank Indonesia’s Project Garuda. In a December 13, 2024 press release, BI said it had completed the first-stage proof of concept for the Digital Rupiah, a wholesale cash ledger for transactions between institutions. The test used distributed ledger technology and, according to BI, met all test scenarios, including interoperability with existing payment systems.

BI has not announced a timeline for rupiah tokenized deposits or for 24/7 settlement in tokenized central bank money. The most realistic course for Indonesian banks and companies is to understand the technology, watch the results of the Hong Kong pilot, and follow BI’s policy direction before making large investments. For banks and financial institutions that want to test distributed ledgers in a contained environment, a blockchain development team can help build a prototype connected to core systems.

Frequently asked questions

Are tokenized deposits the same as cryptocurrency?

No. A tokenized deposit is a deposit at a licensed bank recorded in token form. It is supervised by banking regulators. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are not issued by banks and their value fluctuates.

Can retail customers in Hong Kong use them yet?

According to the HKMA, use cases in EnsembleTX currently focus on corporate treasury management and tokenized money market fund transactions. The program is also still a controlled pilot with real-value transactions, and official sources do not mention a service for retail customers.

Will Indonesia adopt a similar system?

There is no official announcement yet. Bank Indonesia has tested a wholesale Digital Rupiah cash ledger through Project Garuda, but it has not announced a timeline for tokenized deposits or 24/7 interbank settlement in tokenized central bank money.

Closing thoughts

The HKMA announcement and Ant International’s transactions show tokenized deposits already moving real money between banks, at any hour, in a matter of minutes. The biggest change happens behind the scenes, in how companies manage cash, hold prefunding, and automate payments. If your organization wants to assess whether its finance systems are ready for programmable payments, the Merakit team is ready to talk.

Sources

• HKMA advances Project Ensemble pilot phase to 24/7 settlement in tokenised Central Bank Money, HKMA, November 2, 2026
• Ant International and Bank Partners Achieve Real-Time Cross-Bank Liquidity Management through Tokenised Deposits via CeBM under HKMA’s EnsembleTX, Ant International via Business Wire, November 2, 2026
• Ant International completes live cross-bank tokenised deposit transfers with 3 Hong Kong banks under EnsembleTX, TNGlobal, November 3, 2026
• Ant settles tokenised deposits via HKMA CeBM, The Paypers, November 3, 2026
• HKMA announces new phase of Project Ensemble to support real-value transactions in tokenised deposits and digital assets, HKMA, November 13, 2025
• HSBC completes first live cross-bank transaction in EnsembleTX, HSBC, November 13, 2025
• Proof of Concept Proyek Garuda, Babak Baru Eksplorasi Rupiah Digital, Bank Indonesia, December 13, 2024