TheMonsoon Ledger

State of Play

Wholesale settlement: CBDC and tokenised deposits

Latest change ·

First version, covering India, Singapore and Hong Kong, now including tokenised deposits.

Sources: rbi.org.in, mas.gov.sg, policyaddress.gov.hk

Which money settles tokenised transactions in India, Singapore and Hong Kong, and which central bank projects provide it

As of 30 September 2026, each market has chosen a different settlement asset for tokenised transactions. India settles in wholesale CBDC issued by the Reserve Bank of India, and its tokenised bonds and certificates of deposit already use it. Singapore has run a live wholesale CBDC trial and supports banks settling in tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins. Hong Kong settles tokenised deposits between banks through EnsembleTX and plans to add wholesale CBDC settlement by around the end of 2026.

Side by side

India Singapore Hong Kong
Central bank settlement asset Wholesale e-rupee (e₹-W), in pilot since November 2022 Singapore dollar wholesale CBDC, first live trial November 2025 Wholesale CBDC planned under EnsembleTX by around end-2026
Main platform RBI Unified Markets Interface SGD Testnet; BLOOM for commercial bank money and stablecoins EnsembleTX
Tokenised bank money Tokenised certificates of deposit on UMI Live at DBS, HSBC and on Partior Live at HSBC; interbank settlement via EnsembleTX
Retail CBDC e-rupee pilot, open to users nationwide Not pursued e-HKD pilot ended October 2025
Cross-border Bilateral pilot planned for 2026-27 Partior network; MoU with RBI mBridge participant

By market

India

The RBI’s wholesale digital rupee started on 1 November 2022, settling secondary trades in government securities, and has since added interbank lending and borrowing. In October 2025 the RBI launched the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), which tokenises financial assets and settles them in wholesale CBDC. Certificates of deposit were the first instrument, and the Demat 2.0 corporate bond pilot connects to UMI for delivery against payment and for coupons.

The RBI’s annual report for 2025-26 sets out the 2026-27 agenda: more tokenisation pilots settled in CBDC, a testing framework in its CBDC and Asset Tokenisation sandbox, and a bilateral or multilateral cross-border CBDC pilot (para VI.67). The RBI has signed a memorandum of understanding on digital assets with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (para I.23). The retail e-rupee remains a pilot, with programmable payments used for some government benefit transfers.

Singapore

MAS completed its first live wholesale CBDC trial in November 2025, settling overnight interbank loans between DBS, OCBC and UOB on the SGD Testnet, and said it would next issue tokenised MAS Bills to primary dealers settled in CBDC (media release).

For commercial bank money, MAS launched BLOOM on 16 October 2025 to support settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins across currencies. Banks already run tokenised deposit services: DBS Token Services on a permissioned EVM chain, HSBC’s cross-border tokenised deposit service, and Partior, a shared network for interbank payments in USD, EUR and SGD.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) started Project Ensemble in 2024 to test interbank settlement of tokenised deposits, and moved it to real value as EnsembleTX in November 2025, with seven banks settling initially through the Hong Kong dollar real-time gross settlement system. The 2026 Policy Address says the HKMA plans CBDC settlement and 24/7 operations under EnsembleTX by around the end of 2026 (para 50). HSBC’s tokenised deposit service is live for corporate clients and connected to EnsembleTX.

The HKMA ended its retail e-HKD pilot in October 2025 and moved its e-HKD work to wholesale uses. It is also a participant in Project mBridge, a multi-CBDC platform for cross-border payments that reached minimum viable product stage in June 2024 and runs on a ledger compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

For Ethereum

None of the three central banks settles on a public chain, and none has said it will. Ethereum’s software shows up inside permissioned systems: DBS Token Services and mBridge run EVM-compatible ledgers. The links to public chains run through commercial bank money and stablecoins. MAS’s BLOOM covers regulated stablecoins as settlement assets, and Singapore’s capital proposal would let banks issue tokenised deposits on permissionless chains under issuer controls. See Regulated finance on public blockchains.

Open questions

  • Whether India’s UMI will accept settlement assets other than wholesale CBDC.
  • Whether Hong Kong’s wholesale CBDC under EnsembleTX will be a standing facility or a pilot.
  • Whether any of the RBI, MAS or HKMA publishes volumes for wholesale CBDC settlement.

Next milestones

  • End of 2026: HKMA wholesale CBDC settlement and 24/7 operations under EnsembleTX.
  • 2026: MAS to publish details of its tokenised MAS Bills trial.
  • 2026-27: the RBI’s cross-border CBDC pilot, with Singapore or the UAE named as counterparts in its annual report.

Regulatory Wire items on this topic

Hong Kong · HKMA · Speech

HKMA chief executive says CMU OmniClear's digital asset platform will offer 24-hour on-chain atomic settlement

Proposal · Applies to Banks, Listed issuers, Fund managers

At the Treasury Markets Summit, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said CMU OmniClear is building a digital asset platform for 24-hour, on-chain atomic settlement that will support settlement against central bank digital currencies and explore integration with tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins. He said the HKMA will test tokenised Exchange Fund Bills and support regular government digital bond issuance, and that half the world's digital bonds by volume in the first half of 2026 were issued in Hong Kong.

Why it matters: The HKMA's own securities depository, not a private platform, is being set up as the settlement layer for Hong Kong's digital bonds, with stablecoins on the list of settlement assets it may accept.

Source: HKMA · Archived copy

Updates: Wholesale settlement: CBDC and tokenised deposits

Hong Kong · HKSAR Government · Speech

Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address commits to stablecoin trading, tokenised Exchange Fund Bills and CBDC settlement by year-end

Proposal · Applies to Banks, VASPs, Stablecoin issuers, Fund managers

The 2026 Policy Address commits the government to promote trading of regulated stablecoins on licensed virtual asset trading platforms and their use in settling tokenised money market funds. The HKMA will test tokenised Exchange Fund Bills and plans CBDC settlement and 24/7 operation under EnsembleTX by around the end of 2026, and CMU OmniClear will set up a digital asset platform for digital bonds this year. The SFC will extend its tokenised product framework to gold and other real-world assets and start digital-asset custody surveillance in the second half of 2026.

Why it matters: Hong Kong now has two tracks for tokenised money, licensed stablecoins on public chains and HKMA-run rails for deposits and CBDC, and the address backs both.

For Ethereum: Hong Kong's first live licensed stablecoin, HKDAP, is an ERC-20 on Ethereum mainnet, so stablecoin settlement of tokenised funds would, on current issuance, run on Ethereum.

Source: HKSAR Government · Archived copy

Updates: Wholesale settlement: CBDC and tokenised deposits

India · SEBI and RBI · Other

SEBI and RBI launch Demat 2.0, a tokenised corporate bond pilot settled in wholesale CBDC

In force · Applies to Listed issuers, Brokers, Banks

SEBI and the RBI launched Demat 2.0, a pilot in which corporate bonds are issued as tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the depositories, with settlement in wholesale CBDC through the RBI's Unified Markets Interface. REC, L&T and IIFL issued tokenised bonds worth Rs 1,025 crore in total between 7 and 9 September 2026. Later phases will add secondary trading on request-for-quote platforms and retail access.

Why it matters: India put tokenised bonds inside its existing depositories instead of beside them, which is the fastest route to scale and the least open one.

Source: SEBI and RBI · Archived copy

Updates: Wholesale settlement: CBDC and tokenised deposits

India · RBI · Report

RBI annual report records the first tokenised certificates of deposit settled in wholesale CBDC

In force · Applies to Banks

The RBI's annual report for 2025-26 records that certificates of deposit were the first instrument issued in tokenised form on its Unified Markets Interface, settled in wholesale CBDC. It also reports programmable CBDC pilots in government subsidy payments, offline CBDC testing and expanded wholesale pilots. For 2026-27 the RBI plans more tokenisation pilots and bilateral cross-border CBDC pilots.

Why it matters: The RBI is building its own tokenisation rails and settlement asset, which makes wholesale CBDC, not stablecoins, India's answer to on-chain money.

Source: RBI · Archived copy

Updates: Wholesale settlement: CBDC and tokenised deposits