In a landmark whitepaper released on February 4, 2026, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Aptos Labs, and Hang Seng Bank outlined how tokenization could double Hong Kong’s asset management sector, per The Block. The report, based on Phase 2 of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)’s Project e-HKD+, demonstrates the technical viability and commercial attractiveness of token-based finance, enabling 24/7 liquidity, instant settlement, and DeFi composability for real-world assets (RWA). David Chan, BCG managing director, stated that investors are ready to increase allocations once friction is removed.
A survey of 500 retail investors in May-June 2025 revealed 61% would double fund allocations for tokenized products offering instant settlement and round-the-clock access, while 97% expressed interest in enhanced features like CBDCs and stablecoins, per. This demand underscores Hong Kong’s potential to lead Asia’s onchain securities market, leveraging Hang Seng’s institutional reach and Aptos’s Layer 1 scalability, per. The pilot addressed counterparty risk and operational costs, shifting from message-based to token-based systems, embedding value, ownership, and compliance.
The whitepaper identifies three priorities: regulatory compliance, business-model innovation, and scaling technology to institutional standards, requiring coordinated execution across banks, regulators, and tech providers. Yue Hong Zhang, BCG managing director, called 2026 the “inflection point” for commercial scale, per. Hong Kong’s stablecoin ordinance (effective August 1, 2025) and Shanghai’s digital yuan hub position it ahead of peers, per. However, capital controls and global competition from U.S. dollar-backed platforms pose challenges.
Hong Kong could capture 10–15% of Asia’s $50T equities market through tokenization by 2030, per BCG estimates. Investors should track HKMA updates on hkma.gov.hk and RWA TVL on DefiLlama. Bitcoin (BTC) ($71,200) and Ethereum (ETH) remain stable, per CoinMarketCap, but yuan-backed stablecoins and RWA growth could shift dynamics. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. BCG’s vision, backed by Aptos and Hang Seng, signals Hong Kong’s ambition to lead tokenized finance, but success hinges on regulatory alignment and institutional adoption in 2026.
