Hong Kong is exploring a general-purpose central bank digital currency (CBDC) to be distributed through commercial banks and payment service providers, said Howard Lee, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, during the BIS Innovation Summit 2021 held this week.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will study the benefits and challenges of different architectures for the distribution of general-purpose CBDCs — intended for individuals and firms — in its upcoming Project Aurum, Lee said.
“Specifically we will look into two architectural models, namely the hybrid CBDC and private CBDC-backed stablecoins,” Lee said in his speech titled “Central Bank Innovations: Payments, Data, and Capabilities,” at the virtual event hosted by the Bank for International Settlement.
