Hong Kong Advances Tokenization Under DART

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters told a Hong Kong FinTech Week panel he expects most transactions will eventually settle on blockchains and that all money will be digital, calling it a “complete rewiring” of the financial system. Standard Chartered is acting on that view — launching institutional spot Bitcoin and Ether trading, participating in the HKMA stablecoin issuer sandbox, and forming a joint venture with Animoca Brands and HKT to pursue an HKD-backed stablecoin. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has unveiled its Fintech 2030 “DART” strategy, which names tokenization a core pillar and plans pilots such as Project Ensemble. The HKMA is exploring e-HKD as well as tokenised government bonds and Exchange Fund papers to enable on‑chain settlement. Regulators and industry players including banks, fintech firms and infrastructure providers are emphasizing practical, sandboxed trials as they work to operationalize tokenized real-world assets and digital money.