According to Cointelegraph, the Hong Kong government is collaborating with Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to test cross-border transactions and digital asset settlements between permissioned and permissionless blockchains. This is the second phase of Hong Kong's central bank digital currency (CBDC) program. Visa reports that the program involves an Australian investor purchasing tokenized assets in Hong Kong.
Transaction requests will be processed across multiple blockchains, with the final assets credited to investors' wallets in Hong Kong CBDC. Chainlink's CCIP operates on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana-compatible virtual machine blockchains. The Hong Kong study will use the Ethereum test network Sepolia.
The main research partners include Visa, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), asset management company ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International. The Hong Kong government has commissioned multiple studies to explore the application scenarios of CBDC. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched the second phase of the CBDC program on September 23, 2024, with a group of 11 companies exploring the application scenarios of e-HKD, with results expected to be published by the end of 2025.
According to a survey in February 2025, only 18% of central banks worldwide are inclined to issue CBDC, down from 38% in 2022, indicating a potential decline in interest in CBDC. However, Israel and the European Union are still advancing their CBDC plans.
