In the current wave of global asset tokenization, Hong Kong is becoming a key experimental field for on-chain asset layout. According to PANews, many domestic enterprises with physical assets are also taking action, seeking to tokenize their assets for financing. The most common compliant solution is to first confirm ownership of domestic assets on a consortium blockchain, then establish a holding entity in Hong Kong to control these domestic assets, and then issue tokens for financing. Currently, Hong Kong's RWA industry is still feeling its way forward.
Author: Nancy, PANews
In the current wave of global asset tokenization, Hong Kong is becoming a key experimental field for on-chain asset layout. Recently, the on-chain layout is experiencing an accelerated evolution: on one hand, the Hong Kong government has introduced multiple measures to promote tokenization experiments, and on the other hand, companies like JD Technology, Futu Securities, Ant Group, and Guotai Junan are actively advancing RWA layouts.
According to PANews, many domestic enterprises with physical assets are also taking action, seeking to tokenize their assets for financing. The most common compliant solution is to first confirm ownership of domestic assets on a consortium blockchain, then establish a holding entity in Hong Kong to control these domestic assets, and then issue tokens for financing. These enterprises range from agriculture to new energy to real estate, and the essence of exploring RWA (Real World Assets tokenization) is still for financing, but currently, Hong Kong's RWA industry is still feeling its way forward.
Hong Kong RWA Accelerating, Multiple Institutions Speeding Up On-Chain Layout
Real-world asset on-chain is becoming a key pivot for deep integration of TradeFi and crypto finance, and a financial transformation of "mutual advancement" is accelerating in Hong Kong. In recent months, companies like JD Technology, Ant Group, Guotai Junan International, China Carbon Neutrality, and HashKey Chain are deeply participating in RWA innovation and implementation through different paths such as stablecoin issuance, traditional asset tokenization, and RWA infrastructure construction.
JD Technology: Issuing Stablecoins in Hong Kong, Advancing RWA Layout
According to Zero One Think Tank, JD Technology Group recently posted multiple RWA-related job postings on BOSS Zhipin, positioning it as the "company's strategic layout in the combination of new energy and blockchain". The recruitment positions include asset management system product director and solution director, mainly responsible for new energy asset RWA asset management system design, asset acquisition, and industrial implementation. Notably, JD explicitly requires that product design needs to seamlessly connect with JD stablecoin and digital RMB. Meanwhile, JD Technology Group is also recruiting for a "Overseas Financial Business Expansion" position, focusing on promoting stablecoin business implementation.
In July last year, JD announced its layout in the stablecoin track, planning to issue a stablecoin JD-HKD in Hong Kong, pegged 1:1 with the Hong Kong dollar. The stablecoin reserve consists of highly liquid and credible assets, which will be safely stored in independent accounts of licensed financial institutions and verified through regular disclosure and audit reports. Currently, the project has officially entered the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's stablecoin sandbox pilot.
It's worth mentioning that JD's subsidiary JINGDONG Coinlink (Hong Kong) has also reached a cooperation with Starbank, established jointly by Xiaomi Group and SC Group. As a licensed virtual bank, Starbank will provide financial compliance support for JD to explore cross-border payment solutions based on stablecoins within the HKMA's stablecoin sandbox framework. The bank is 50.30% owned by Xiaomi Group and 44.11% by Futu Group.
To further advance its stablecoin strategy, in March, JD also announced recruitment for a stablecoin policy researcher, requiring a deep financial background and policy research capability, focusing on domestic and international stablecoin policy regulations and maintaining communication with regulatory bodies.
Regarding stablecoin issuance, Dr. Shen Jianguang, JD Group's Vice President, recently stated that stablecoins belong to the company-level decentralized commercial issuance, with minimal fluctuation affected by macroeconomic conditions. JD's stablecoin issuance aims to further enhance JD's global supply chain and cross-border payment capabilities. Once approved in Hong Kong, the stablecoin may be implemented in multiple countries and regions, but must comply with different countries' regulatory rules, such as the EU's MiCA requiring local company establishment and license application, while Japan can accept Hong Kong-issued coins. JD will actively promote global compliance layout and build stablecoin infrastructure.
Ant Digital Technology: Advancing Technology and Scenarios, Accelerating RWA Layout
Starting from 2024, Ant Digital Technology has begun to accelerate its pace in the RWA field. In May, as one of the first participants from the private sector, Ant Digital Technology joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Ensemble project sandbox, participating in tokenized deposit technology testing, asset tokenization scenario exploration, and industry standard development, and subsequently recruited RWA architects in Hong Kong. Subsequently, Ant Digital Technology has frequently made moves in RWA applications, such as collaborating with Sui to promote RWA tokenization in the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) domain, partnering with green energy service provider GCL Energy to successfully complete China's first RWA case involving 200 million yuan based on photovoltaic physical assets, collaborating with Conflux to participate in China's first green energy battery swap asset RWA project, and providing technical support for the world's first battery swap physical asset RWA for the Eagle Group.
While continuously expanding application scenarios, Ant Digital Technology is also deepening its technological foundation. For example, in October last year, Antchain publicly unveiled its "Two Chains and One Bridge" platform for RWA business, aimed at helping more mainland new energy assets go to Hong Kong for RWA and enabling technological empowerment of physical assets. In April this year, Ant Digital Technology's newly open-sourced blockchain virtual machine DTVM, integrated with the large language model development framework SmartCogent, is fully compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem, eliminating cross-platform development language barriers for RWA scenario developers.
In early this month, Ant Digital Technology launched Jovay, a Layer2 blockchain for overseas markets, which is a high-performance trusted blockchain platform specifically designed for RWA transactions, supporting 100,000 TPS and 100-millisecond response time. Jovay uses a TEE and zk dual-proof system, capable of seamlessly connecting with Layer1 blockchains like Ethereum, helping to transform global new energy assets into tradable digital assets.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach]However, Hong Kong is actually taking an actively promoting attitude towards tokenization policies. For example, the Ensemble project launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) aims to explore the feasibility of tokenized assets in practical application scenarios through sandbox testing, which is of great significance in promoting market understanding and application. Additionally, Hong Kong is exploring Hong Kong dollar stablecoins and focusing on establishing a stablecoin regulatory framework, including the Stablecoin Bill draft planned to resume second reading debate at the Legislative Council meeting on May 21st. If the bill passes, the monetary authority will accelerate the approval of stablecoin-related licenses, providing a clearer regulatory environment for the market. Moreover, Hong Kong government officials are optimistic about tokenization prospects. For instance, Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, further emphasized that Hong Kong not only hopes to promote the tokenization of assets like gold but is also committed to integrating the real economy through digital finance.
Hong Kong also supports blockchain technology. For example, according to ThreeDAO's public account, Dr. Xiao Feng, founder of Wanxiang Blockchain, suggested in a private conversation with Ethereum founder Vitalik that the Ethereum Foundation establish an office in Hong Kong. Xiao Feng pointed out that blockchain developers are mainly concentrated in English and Chinese-speaking worlds, and losing the Chinese market means losing important global developer resources. China's technology sectors, government agencies, and developer communities respect Ethereum technology and suggest that the foundation should not stay away from the Chinese market.
Now, with the participation of multiple leading enterprises mentioned earlier, this may bring confidence to more Hong Kong companies that are currently in a wait-and-see state, providing them with reference and motivation.
Overall, as more global institutions accelerate the tokenization of financial assets, the development space for the RWA track is being further opened, presenting an important policy opportunity and development window for Hong Kong. Therefore, facing increasingly clear policy guidance and increasingly mature technological paths, Hong Kong should moderately release innovative experimental space on the premise of ensuring financial stability and compliance, promoting more traditional institutions to move from observation to practice, guiding more traditional financial capital to enter the market, and accelerating the localization and global alignment of the RWA ecosystem.
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