Ant International pilots real-time tokenised deposits with HSBC

By Gloria Methri

Ant International has announced the launch of a new tokenised deposit solution in collaboration with HSBC, marking a significant milestone in blockchain-powered treasury innovation. The initiative introduces HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service, which facilitates real-time, always-on HKD and USD payments between corporate wallets held by clients at HSBC Hong Kong.

The launch follows a successful pilot between HSBC and Ant International on the latter’s Whale platform, a blockchain-based treasury management system. The pilot informed HSBC’s development of its Tokenised Deposit Service, with Ant International becoming the first client to complete an instant intra-group fund transfer through the platform. The transaction was executed using Ant’s global treasury platform, which digitised its USD deposits into tokens on HSBC’s secure distributed ledger.

This marks Hong Kong’s first bank-led blockchain settlement service, as financial institutions increasingly look to combine the stability of traditional banking with the efficiency of distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Developed by the Platform Tech team under Ant International’s Embedded Finance business, the Whale platform uses blockchain, AI, and advanced cryptography—including homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs—to enable secure, real-time, and transparent fund transfers across global operations. In 2024 alone, over one-third of Ant International’s transactions were processed on-chain via Whale.

The platform supports tokenised assets issued by multiple banks and financial institutions worldwide, facilitating interoperability across diverse blockchain ecosystems and allowing for multi-party transaction verification while maintaining data confidentiality.

This development builds on a broader partnership between Ant International and HSBC that began in 2020. In late 2024, both firms also successfully conducted a cross-bank HKD-denominated trial as part of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Ensemble Sandbox programme.

Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International, said, “We are very excited to work with an industry leader like HSBC, who shares the belief that tokenisation is the key to bridging the stability of traditional banking with the efficiency of blockchain, to enable real-time treasury management. As a tech connector in the fast-evolving financial services industry, our banking partnerships are expanding from tokenisation to AI-driven global FX and liquidity initiatives. We look forward to working with more public and private-sector partners to unlock more transparent, accessible and efficient treasury management solutions for businesses worldwide.”

As institutional interest in tokenised finance accelerates, this collaboration signals a clear step towards mainstream adoption of blockchain in corporate treasury operations. It offers a glimpse into the future of programmable, interoperable money.