Franklin launches Hong Kong’s first tokenized USD fund, targeting the 19 trillion U.S. debt RWA market

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority released "Fintech 2030", and Franklin Templeton simultaneously launched the first tokenized currency fund, announcing that Victoria Harbor is moving towards the blockchain
(Previous summary: Standard Chartered Bank: The RWA market will reach US$2 trillion in 2028, and most of the value will be concentrated in Ethereum)
/>(Background supplement: Increased 57 times in three years? Standard Chartered: The RWA market size will be US$2 trillion in 2028, and DeFi has shaken traditional finance)

The Monetary Authority building across Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor was brightly lit. Yesterday (5) Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) President Yu Weiman unveiled the “Fintech 2030” blueprint at a press conference, and on the same day witnessed Franklin Templeton (Franklin) Templeton announced the issuance of Hong Kong’s first tokenized money market fund, symbolizing Hong Kong’s acceleration into the era of blockchain assets.

The four pillars of "Fintech 2030" are in place at once

According to the content announced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, "Fintech 2030" is centered on DART: Data, AI, Resilience, and Tokenization. The plan covers more than 40 measures, ranging from open data to resilience testing, and aims to integrate artificial intelligence and blockchain technology into financial infrastructure. Yu Weiwen emphasized that the government is promoting a tokenized deposit settlement framework, which is expected to be included in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the future. He said on stage:

"We want to establish a tokenization mechanism that can support real-time settlement between banks so that the market can truly benefit."

The "Franklin Chain U.S. Government Monetary Fund" launched by Franklin Templeton converts short-term U.S. Treasury bills into blockchain tokens, and ownership and transaction records are written on the chain. Fund investors will receive advantages such as 24/7 trading, increased liquidity and reduced handling fees. This product was also included in the "Project Ensemble" sandbox of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and was jointly tested with HSBC and OSL Group. "Settlement is almost instantaneous" is the evaluation given by HSBC's senior management, which shows that traditional banking infrastructure is deeply connected with the blockchain.

The $19 trillion blue ocean of tokenized real-world assets

The Boston Consulting Group estimates that the scale of global tokenized assets is expected to expand from $36 billion to $19 trillion within ten years. Hong Kong seizes business opportunities and plans to regularize the issuance of tokenized government bonds and Exchange Fund bills in "Fintech 2030" and relax cross-border order sharing regulations for licensed trading platforms. The competent authorities also announced that they will establish a clear approval process to attract global funds and talents.

The next step of "Project Ensemble" will involve bonds, trade finance and cross-border investment, with the goal of shortening settlement time to seconds. However, unification of technical standards, jurisdictional conflicts and cybersecurity risks still need to be resolved. In this regard, the Resilience pillar in DART acts as a safety valve: the Hong Kong Monetary Authority requires participants to establish stress testing and security protection, and simultaneously promotes investor education to avoid innovation going too fast and leaving a regulatory vacuum.

In summary, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized fund has launched the first shot of “Fintech 2030” and also injected a demonstration effect into the global US$19 trillion RWA market. The battle for financial centers has always been changing rapidly, but now the lights of Victoria Harbor are lighting up a new channel for the digital asset era.