Hong Kong pursues third digital bond issuance

Hong Kong's government is pursuing the issuance of a third digital bond, accelerating its push to become a digital asset hub.

On the 10th (Korean time), Bloomberg reported that the Hong Kong government is preparing to issue a digital green bond denominated in multiple currencies including U.S. dollars, Hong Kong dollars, euros, and offshore renminbi. The pricing could be set as early as Monday, and if successful it would be the third digital bond issuance since 2023.

The bond will be recorded and settled through a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform provided by HSBC. The product received an AA+ rating from credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P).

Digital bonds are bonds issued, traded, and settled using blockchain technology; HSBC Holdings and Goldman Sachs operate their own DLT platforms, and issuance based on public blockchains such as Ethereum (ETH) is also possible.

Since 2023, Hong Kong has continued government-led digital bond experiments, and private companies have issued digital bonds six times in total, including four this year, raising about $1 billion. Recently, Chinese state-owned companies Shenzhen Futian Investment Holdings and Shandong Hiway Holdings have issued such bonds in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg said, "As Asian countries expand adoption of digital assets in step with U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto policy stance, Hong Kong appears to be aiming to strengthen its position as a global digital asset hub through this issuance."