Ant International today announced its participation in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Project Ensemble Sandbox, focusing on “Liquidity Management”, one of its four main themes. Launched in March this year, Project Ensemble is the HKMA’s wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) project aimed at fostering the development of tokenization in Hong Kong.

The Project Ensemble Sandbox enables companies to research and test tokenization use cases including the settlement of tokenized monies and tokenized real-world assets, amongst others. Ant International will leverage its Whale platform to participate in the Sandbox and develop an innovative use case with its partners. Ant International’s Whale platform is a next-generation treasury management solution that utilizes blockchain technology, advanced encryption and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund movements.

Ant International will collaborate with partners Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Hong Kong) and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) to develop a global liquidity management solution that allows banks to connect to and exchange their tokens, by leveraging its Whale platform. This will allow cross-border payments to be conducted around the clock in real-time.

This partnership with the HKMA marks a significant step forward for Ant International in fostering public-private collaboration to drive innovations in tokenization.

Kelvin Li, Head of Platform Tech at Ant International, said: “As an international financial centre and the home of a vibrant financial industry, Hong Kong is a key focus area for Ant International in our journey to serve merchants around the globe. We are proud to collaborate with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Project Ensemble to make an impact on the future of Hong Kong’s fintech industry. We look forward to combining our industry experience and innovative solutions with the HKMA’s vision as we pioneer and develop the use of emerging technologies such as tokenization.”