French Central Bank and Hong Kong Monetary Authority Collaborate on Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency

According to Odaily, the French Central Bank (BDF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have announced a collaboration on the Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC). This partnership includes the HKMA's participation in the European Central Bank's second wave of exploratory work on the euro system. Both institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to innovate in the wCBDC and the tokenized market, with a focus on interoperability between the infrastructures of both institutions, BDF's DL3S and HKMA's Ensemble Sandbox.

The goal of this collaboration is to strengthen real-time cross-border and cross-currency payments, optimize settlement efficiency, and promote interoperability between financial market infrastructures. Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the BDF, and Howard Lee, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, have emphasized the potential of this plan to promote inclusive finance and drive the development of the global token market.