Hong Kong could double its fund industry through tokenization, BCG says

Hong Kong stands to potentially double the size of its asset management sector by shifting toward token-based finance and digital money infrastructure, according to a new whitepaper from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Aptos Labs, and Hang Seng Bank.

The whitepaper presents a strategic framework for expanding the fund industry through tokenization, drawing on findings from a recent pilot under Phase 2 of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Project e-HKD+.

Through the pilot, BCG, Aptos Labs, and Hang Seng concluded that token-based financial infrastructure is both technically viable and commercially attractive, the report said. Adopting the technology can address current frictions in fund management, such as counterparty risk and operational costs, while enabling continuous, 24/7 liquidity, according to the report.

The pilot identified three priorities for broader adoption: regulatory compliance, business-model innovation, and scaling the technology to meet institutional standards. The whitepaper called for "coordinated execution" across industry participants and regulators to successfully deploy the proven technology.

"We have the technical proof and the commercial validation. Investors are ready to increase allocations as soon as the market removes the friction," said David Chan, managing director and partner at BCG. "Financial institutions must now move beyond pilots. Institutions that integrate these features into their core business will capture this new capital."

Strong demand

According to the report, the pilot garnered "strong demand" from investors, especially for features such as 24/7 trading access. 

A survey of 500 retail investors conducted in May and June 2025 found that 61% would be willing to double their fund allocations if tokenized products offered benefits such as instant settlement and round-the-clock access. Meanwhile, 97% of the respondents showed interest in the enhanced features of tokenized funds and digital money, including central bank digital currencies and stablecoins.

This marks a departure from traditional "message-based" systems of transaction settlement, often constrained by settlement delays and reconciliation costs, toward token-based finance that embeds value, ownership, and compliance logic directly into digital tokens.

"We view 2026 as the definitive inflection point. The industry must now pivot from testing technical feasibility to building commercial scale," said Yue Hong Zhang, managing director and partner of BCG. "No single institution can modernize the financial system alone. We need banks, regulators, and technology providers to move in lockstep to turn these pilot successes into the new market standard."