A cross border digital asset settlement experiment involving several global financial institutions has demonstrated how blockchain infrastructure could support regulated financial transactions across jurisdictions. The project was conducted under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority pilot program exploring the development of the e-HKD.
The initiative brought together major financial institutions including Visa, ANZ, ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International. The institutions tested a system designed to enable regulated assets to move securely between private banking networks and public blockchain infrastructure.
Technology from Chainlink was used to facilitate the movement of tokenized financial assets between ANZ’s private DASChain network and the Ethereum Sepolia testnet. The goal of the trial was to assess how tokenized assets and central bank digital currencies could be settled across different blockchain environments while meeting regulatory standards.
The experiment relied on Chainlink’s interoperability technology to enable secure communication and value transfers across blockchain networks. The infrastructure supported transactions involving tokenized funds and the digital Hong Kong dollar within a controlled regulatory framework.
Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol enabled messaging and value transfer between participating systems. The setup made it possible to test Delivery versus Payment and Payment versus Payment settlement models, two mechanisms widely used in traditional financial markets to ensure that asset transfers and payments occur simultaneously.
Another component of the trial involved the Digital Transfer Agent standard, which automates the issuance of tokenized fund units during cross-chain transactions. The system also retrieves onchain net asset value data to support faster settlement processes.
Compliance mechanisms were also integrated directly into the settlement process through Chainlink’s Automated Compliance Engine.
Building on similar principles of secure, programmable digital money, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has been exploring a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-HKD, since 2017, reflecting growing global interest in digital currencies. Initial efforts focused on wholesale applications, including large-value payments and DvP settlements, through initiatives such as Project LionRock, Project Inthanon-LionRock, and Project mBridge. In 2024, Project Ensemble explored the use of e-HKD for interbank settlement of tokenised deposits.
Some users said the hard push makes sense. One user commented,
“Strong communities don’t happen by accident. Behind every successful Web3 project is a solid moderation team and a community manager guiding the vision. Respect to builders still doing it right.”
Meanwhile, Chainlink has unveiled a new market data product that could accelerate the migration of U.S. equities onto blockchain-based platforms.
