The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has begun the second phase of its digital currency pilot program, focusing on testing the commercial feasibility of digital money use cases. Eleven groups of firms will be participating, examining tokenized asset settlement, programmability, and offline payments. The HKMA aims to share its findings by the end of 2025. The authority emphasizes collaboration with industry partners and has established an e-HKD sandbox and an e-HKD Industry Forum. This development in Hong Kong reflects the broader trend in the Asia-Pacific region, where several countries are exploring or implementing central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives. While some nations like China and India are moving ahead with large-scale pilots, others like Australia and South Korea are taking a more cautious approach. The global landscape for CBDCs remains mixed, with only a few nations fully adopting retail CBDCs.



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