Hong Kong is moving to broaden its digital-asset regulatory regime while simultaneously building the market infrastructure needed for round-the-clock tokenized settlement, according to announcements and policy documents released this week by the city's government and its de facto central bank.

The government and the Securities and Futures Commission have completed consultations covering virtual-asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services, with legislation targeted for introduction in the Legislative Council during 2026. In parallel, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is preparing new Central Moneymarkets Unit services supporting 24-hour, real-time on-chain settlement using the e-HKD and central bank digital currencies, and is examining tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins as settlement instruments.

Licensing Bill Headed to the Legislative Council

Hong Kong plans to table legislation covering virtual-asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services in 2026. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission have completed consultations on dealing and custody, while work on proposals for advisory and management services has also progressed. The Legislative Council discussed the proposed regimes in June.

Legislator Duncan Chiu said on Sept. 23 that authorities aim to bring the new digital-asset licensing bill to the Legislative Council in the second half of 2026, with officials seeking passage in the second half of this year or early 2027.

The planned rules would extend Hong Kong's crypto licensing beyond the existing regime for virtual-asset trading platforms.

HKMA Prepares 24-Hour On-Chain Settlement

HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said on Sept. 23 that the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU), the authority's debt securities settlement infrastructure, will introduce new services by the end of 2026. The system will support round-the-clock, real-time on-chain settlement and operate with the e-HKD and central bank digital currencies.

Yue said the HKMA will also study whether the platform can settle tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins, linking cash and tokenized assets within the same market infrastructure.

Hong Kong's 2026 Policy Address adds that CMU OmniClear will establish a digital-asset platform this year for digital bond issuance and settlement.

Digital Bonds Gain a Larger Role

Hong Kong is also scaling up its digital bond program. According to the 2026 Policy Address, the city accounted for nearly half of global digital bond issuance from 2025 through mid-2026, a share that makes it one of the most active jurisdictions for tokenized debt. The government plans to issue digital bonds regularly and to test more forms of digital-currency settlement across the bonds' life cycle.

The HKMA will test tokenized Exchange Fund Bills before year-end. The government says banks hold more than HK$1.3 trillion of these bills, and tokenization would allow banks to mobilize those assets around the clock for liquidity and balance-sheet management.

The HKMA's Tokenized Bond Expert Group will continue work on the legal and technical arrangements for distributed ledger technology.

Licensing and Infrastructure Advance Together

The licensing plan adds a further layer to Hong Kong's digital-asset framework. The city already licenses virtual-asset trading platforms, and a stablecoin issuer regime took effect in August 2025. The new proposals target dealing, custody, advisory and management services that sit outside parts of the current framework. Taken together, the measures pair an authorization framework for virtual-asset dealing, custody, advisory and management services with settlement infrastructure designed to link cash and tokenized assets.

Yue framed the digital measures within a broader fixed-income and currency push. Average daily foreign-exchange turnover in Hong Kong rose about 20% in April from last October, he said, while yuan loans increased nearly 30%. Authorities also plan to extend tenors for government offshore yuan and Hong Kong dollar bonds, giving the CMU a wider pool of traditional instruments as tokenized settlement options are added through regulated market channels.

Yue noted that Hong Kong's bond market has recorded roughly 20% compound annual growth over the past two decades and that the city handled about a quarter of Asia's international bond issuance last year.

With the licensing bill targeted for introduction in the second half of 2026 and the new settlement services due by year-end, the new CMU services, tokenized Exchange Fund Bills, and the digital bond program are set to run alongside the planned licensing regime as Hong Kong assembles its tokenized-finance framework.

Sources: The Market Periodical · The Standard