Standard Chartered Opens Tokenized Deposits to Hong Kong Business Clients

Standard Chartered now lets corporate customers in Hong Kong send money as tokenized deposits, making the city the first market in the group to get the service. The product runs on the lender’s own blockchain platform together with infrastructure built by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Participating banks can pass deposits to one another in real time, and the final payment is settled in central bank money. The bank has not shared transaction values or the number of institutions with initial access.

EnsembleTX Expansion and Participants

The debut lines up with the HKMA widening its EnsembleTX project to settlement at any hour using tokenized central bank money. The regulator says the project now counts 12 banks and 20 other firms, up from the pilot that began in November 2025. Standard Chartered is also teaming up with Fireblocks to reach digital asset clients, and HashKey has joined the effort.

Why Tokenized Deposits Differ From Stablecoins

Tokenized deposits stay as money held at a bank, unlike dollar tokens from private issuers such as Tether and Circle. For companies, that means funds can move outside regular banking hours without being converted into a stablecoin first. JPMorgan, Citi and other large banks are building their own blockchain payment systems.

Standard Chartered’s Wider Digital Asset Push

The bank has tested blockchain payments with HSBC, started offering bitcoin and ether trading to affluent clients in the UAE, and broadened its crypto custody services in Singapore.