Standard Chartered And MasterCard Team Up For Tokenised Deposits Trial

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Mastercard and Standard Chartered have collaborated on a proof-of-concept pilot investigating tokenized carbon credits and tokenized deposits.

The two financial services leaders joined forces with Mox, the Hong Kong-based digital bank owned by Standard Chartered, along with asset tokenization technology company Libeara on the poC. This occurred on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) fintech regulatory testing ground.

The Trial Marked The First Live Pilot Of The Mastercard MTN

The experiment marked the initial live trial of the Mastercard Multi-Token Network (MTN). It was used in an experiment where a Mox customer seeks to purchase a carbon credit to counterbalance individual carbon emissions and then transfer the cash into their bank account.

During the trial period, Mox asks Standard Chartered to convert the chosen carbon credit into a tokenized form with the support of Libeara. Subsequently, with the Mastercard MTN, the customer’s deposit is also converted into digital tokens, and an atomic transaction is conducted between the two assets.

The outcome is a clear, real-time transfer between Mox and Standard Chartered, enabling the end client to receive a tokenized rendition of their carbon credit. This can be kept in a digital wallet, or utilized to balance their carbon emissions.

The Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, Mary Huen, said that the digitization of physical assets is crucial to the evolution of the financial sector.

She also spoke about the possible use of various types of tokenized currency.  Huen further emphasized that this could Alter the manner in which banking transactions are carried out.

The Project Ensemble Is Aimed At Studying Wholesale CBDCs

The assessment reflects the widespread trend of incorporating blockchain technology into financial institutions. The HKMA has been forward-thinking in Project Ensemble, intended to study wholesale CBDCs and tokenized deposits.

Mastercard introduced the MTN in June last year. It was developed on Mastercard’s custom blockchain network. It previously carried out trial tests in partnership with the Reserve Bank of Australia employing wrapped CBDC and with the HKMA utilizing its e-HKD CBDC

The HKMA has been fervently advocating for Hong Kong as a top digital assets center. It urged local financial entities, including SCBHK, to upgrade their services for digital currency platforms.

SCBHK participates in various HKMA projects, like the international Project mBridge, the e-HKD pilot program, and Project Ensemble.

In November last year, China’s Ant Group and HSBC also conducted tests on digitized deposit transactions utilizing Ant Group’s blockchain network in an HKMA testing ground. Meanwhile, HSBC provides Ethereum and Bitcoin futures ETF trading to users in Hong Kong.

About Ali Raza PRO INVESTOR

Ali is a professional journalist with experience in Web3 journalism and marketing. Ali holds a Master's degree in Finance and enjoys writing about cryptocurrencies and fintech. Ali’s work has been published on a number of leading cryptocurrency publications including Capital.com, CryptoSlate, Securities.io, Invezz.com, Business2Community, BeinCrypto, and more.