Hong Kong will improve its virtual asset licensing system and regulatory framework for tokenized investment products, supporting the issuance and trading of gold and other suitable real-world assets (RWAs) on licensed platforms. The government also plans to make digital bond issuance routine and explore digital-currency settlement, interest payments, and redemptions across the full bond lifecycle. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will test the operation of tokenized Exchange Fund Notes by the end of 2026, seeking to help banks use tokenization to access and manage more than HK$1.3 trillion in Exchange Fund Notes efficiently around the clock. Around year-end, the HKMA also plans to implement central bank digital currency settlement and 24/7 operations under the Ensemble project, while continuing to explore additional use cases for tokenized deposits.