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R3, Hong Kong’s Cyberport to Push CBDC Technology

The collaboration will enable R3 to offer its distributed ledger platform and confidential computing platforms to Hong Kong fintech start-ups


Illustration picture of the app for China's digital currency
China's official app for its digital yuan CBDC is seen on a mobile phone next to 100-yuan banknotes. Photo: Reuters.

 

Blockchain company R3 has launched an office in Hong Kong to develop technologies related to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the region, the firm said.

The collaboration with Cyberport, Hong Kong’s tech hub, will enable R3 to offer Corda, its distributed ledger platform, and Conclave, its confidential computing platforms, to Hong Kong’s fintech start-ups.

New York-based R3 said it would support the creation of software applications based on digital trust technologies.

Cyberport and R3 will launch a series of blockchain training programmes for technical developers later this year to help Cyberport-based companies acquire CBDC-related technology.

 

 

Peter Yan, chief executive of Cyberport, said the move reflect’s Beijing’s desire to develop a digital yuan, or e-CNY.

“By the end of last year, the usage of e-CNY had reached 87.5 billion yuan of transactions with 261 million individual wallets set up,” he said.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is studying CBDC payment and settlement in Hong Kong to help promote mutual access in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and support the consolidation of Hong Kong’s status as a global offshore yuan business hub.

“The CBDC will drive demand for blockchain applications and create huge opportunity,” Yan added

Amit Ghosh, chief Information and services officer at R3, said the CBDC would reshape the financial industry.

“Both central banks and financial institutions will need to build new systems, and even review the financial system’s operating processes.”

 

  • George Russell

This report was amended on March 4, 2022 to clarify that this technology relates to China’s CBDC, plus other countries’ digital currencies.

 

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.