The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is leveraging Chainlink technology to enable real-time payments between central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. Participants in the project include Visa, Fidelity, and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).
As part of the second phase of its e-HKD+ pilot program, the Hong Kong central bank has announced a collaboration with Chainlink. The initiative uses Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to test interoperability between CBDCs and stablecoins across different blockchains. A key use case involves the real-time exchange of a tokenized version of the Hong Kong central bank currency (e-HKD) for an Australian stablecoin (A$DC), according to official sources.
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Settlement across multiple blockchains
The pilot project demonstrates how Chainlink CCIP can facilitate transactions between private and public networks-in this case, between ANZ’s permissioned blockchain (DASChain) and Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet. Payments are executed atomically, meaning simultaneously on both sides, which eliminates counterparty risk. For example, digital assets such as a money market fund could be purchased in real time with a stablecoin-fully automated and without settlement delays.
Project partners include Visa, ANZ, ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International, each testing regulatory-compliant application scenarios. These range from digital investments to programmable payments-including compliance, identity verification, and data privacy.
Tokenization as a global growth driver
The project underscores the growing importance of tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) for global payments. According to Visa, tokenized stablecoins and CBDCs could reach a market volume of several trillion USD by 2030. Chainlink CCIP is considered one of the leading solutions for cross-chain communication, already active on over 50 blockchains with over USD 21 trillion in secured volume.
The involvement of established financial players such as Visa and Fidelity highlights the project’s regulatory ambitions: it is not only about technological feasibility but also about legally compliant applicability in international markets. Hong Kong once again affirms its role as a bridge between East and West by combining regulatory innovation with cutting-edge blockchain infrastructure.
