The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has published a paper outlining the state of research into the proposed retail central bank digital currency (rCBDC) and plans for its further development. This is the third paper the HKMA has published on e-HKD, the proposed CBDC.
The proposed rCBDC will have a two-tier structure comprising a wholesale interbank system and a retail user wallet system. No wholesale Hong Kong CBDC has yet been proposed, but research began in 2017, four years before the rCBDC scheme was launched. rCBDC isolated. The paper says:
We believe that e-HDD may not have a role to play in the current retail payment market. ”
One of the use cases to consider is “using CBC as a DeFi on- and off-ramp device. [decentralized finance]He said.
Although the start date is not targeted in the paper, according to the local press, the rCBDC trial may begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
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The majority of the paper is devoted to responses to previous papers, one of which asked for comments on the technical aspects of rCBDC, and the other on policy and design. The papers received 75 responses from a range of stakeholders.
Most commentators prefer privacy and cyber security to be prioritized over efficiency on the technical side. There were wide ranging comments on performance and scalability.
Offline and cross-border payments and interoperability with existing payment systems were major design considerations. Interoperability with China’s e-CNI CBCC, which is now in the experimental phase, is particularly noteworthy.