The Hong Kong Monetary Authority plans to launch a wholesale central bank digital currency for interbank settlement by the end of this year as part of Project EnsembleTX, with the goal of enabling 24-hour settlement for tokenized deposit transactions. According to Odaily, the project entered a real-transaction pilot phase at the end of 2025. Interbank settlement currently relies on a real-time gross settlement system that operates only during business hours, and the wholesale CBDC is also planned for settlement of over-the-counter derivatives traded outside Hong Kong Exchange hours, with real-money transactions targeted to begin this year.