On April 20, the opening day of the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival ๐ , a message more persuasive than any speech came from the venue ๐ขโโ Hang Seng Investment, HSBC, and HashKey Exchange joined forces ๐ค to officially launch the 'Hang Seng Gold ETF Tokenized Non-listed Category', trading code HSGLD.
This is not a concept from a PPT ๐, nor a test in a sandbox ๐งช. This is Hong Kong's first physically backed gold ETF tokenized product ๐ฅ, fully compliant with trading and custody in Hong Kong ๐, officially launched today on the HashKey Exchange wealth management channel โ .
At the carnival, HashKey Exchange Group CEO Zhu Haiyang delivered a keynote speech focusing on three key topics: RWA, payments, and Asian connectivity ๐ค, announcing this news. His tone was flat, but the information was substantial ๐โโ Hang Seng is responsible for issuance, HSBC takes on five roles as the tokenization agent, gold trader, gold custodian, trustee, and transfer agent ๐, while HashKey is responsible for distribution ๐.
Three institutions, a complete collaborative chain for tokenized assets, made their simultaneous debut today ๐ฌ.
Looking closely: Three institutions, one chain, the structure of this product is very clear ๐. Hang Seng Investment, as the issuer, managed the Hang Seng Gold ETF, which was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 29 this year ๐ . It is the first gold ETF in Hong Kong that allows physical gold redemption through banks ๐ฆ. As of April 15, the asset management scale of the listed category has approached 1.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ๐ฐ. The newly launched tokenized non-listed category extends the investment channels of the same underlying asset from traditional distribution to on-chain โ๏ธ.
HSBC's role is the most significant ๐ช. It encompasses five roles: tokenization agent, gold trader, gold custodian, trustee, and transfer agent ๐ง. In other words, from the issuance of tokens, trading of gold, asset custody, to legal trusteeship and transfer, the entire chain is managed by HSBC alone ๐ข. This is not a simple outsourcing collaboration; rather, HSBC has moved the entire traditional financial custody and clearing capacity onto the chain ๐.
Suvir Loomba, head of HSBC Securities Services in Asia, stated directly ๐ฌ: 'Combining our digital asset capabilities, reliable custody infrastructure, and professional product knowledge, we enable more investors to participate in gold investment in Hong Kong in a safe and efficient manner.' HashKey Exchange's role is distributionโplacing this tokenized gold ETF on licensed digital asset platforms ๐ for qualified investors.
Zheng Shimin, director of HashKey Exchange, expressed ๐ฌ: 'Gold is one of the most mature and widely recognized foundational assets globally, playing an important role in portfolio construction, especially in environments of increased market volatility.
Huang Jinfeng, executive director and CEO of Hang Seng Investment Management, summarized more directly ๐ฏ: 'Extending product investments from traditional distribution channels to on-chain investors, providing them with a compliant investment option.
Why gold? Choosing gold as the underlying asset for the first tokenized ETF ๐ฅ is not a coincidence. Gold is the most mature and widely recognized foundational asset in the world ๐, with deep liquidity, transparent pricing, and a clear regulatory path.
Using gold to run through the entire process of 'traditional assets โ tokenization โ on-chain distribution' ๐ค๏ธ has the lowest trial and error costs and the strongest demonstration effect ๐ก. More importantly, the tokenized non-listed category of the gold ETF provides investors with a compliant way to allocate on-chain โ .
There's no need to exchange fiat currency for USDT and then go through the chain to buy tokenized gold ๐ฑ. You can complete this directly through compliant channels of licensed platforms. Once this path is established ๐, there will be more assets that can be brought inโbonds ๐, stocks ๐, REITs ๐๏ธ, private equity fund shares ๐ผ, all of which can be tokenized along the same pipeline โ๏ธ.
Huang Jinfeng's statement also confirms this ๐ฌ: 'Supporting the further digitization and internationalization of Hong Kong's financial market. We will continue to contribute to making Hong Kong an international gold trading hub ๐ญ๐ฐ.
Not just the gold ETF: Zhu Haiyang also mentioned that HashKey Exchange's actions today go beyond just listing HSGLD. He revealed three noteworthy points during his speech ๐:
First, HashKey has been approved by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority โ and will collaborate with Shanghai Commercial Bank to issue Asia's first truly co-branded Visa credit card ๐ณ, with registration opening on May 11. The feature of this card is that cardholders can choose to repay using digital assets or fiat currency ๐ฐ without incurring high conversion fees for digital assets; 2% cash back in crypto for Hong Kong spending ๐, and 4% cash back in crypto for overseas spending. Once compliant stablecoin payments and traditional credit cards are integrated, the consumption scenarios for digital assets will no longer be limited to on-chain ๐.
Second, Zhu Haiyang pointed out in terms of industry trends ๐ that DTCC has received a no-objection from the U.S. SEC to engage in tokenized asset custody and settlement ๐ฆ, Kraken has become the first crypto institution to connect with the Federal Reserve's FedWire ๐, and Mastercard has acquired the UK blockchain payment company BVNK for $1.8 billion ๐ธ. Three signals point in the same directionโtraditional financial infrastructure is accelerating its integration into the digital asset space ๐.
Third, regarding regional expansion ๐, HashKey officially announced on April 10 that it will invest in the Vietnamese market ๐ป๐ณ, collaborating with OKX to invest in one of Vietnam's largest commercial banks, VPBank, to help it become one of the first licensed exchanges. They have also signed memorandums of understanding ๐ with leading institutions in Asia, such as Coins.ph in the Philippines, Indodex in Indonesia, Hata in Malaysia, and Bitazza in Thailand, to explore liquidity and tokenized distribution cooperation ๐ค.
Chen Maobo's 'Game Changer' had its first sample just a few hours agoโฐ. In his opening speech at the carnival, Financial Secretary Chen Maobo referred to the integration of Web3 and AI as a 'Game Changer' ๐ฎ. He also disclosed that Hong Kong has issued two stablecoin issuer licenses this month ๐ซ, and the cumulative issuance scale of tokenized green and infrastructure bonds has exceeded $2 billion ๐ต.
Chen Maobo set the tone for the carnival opening: The integration of Web3 and AI is a 'Game Changer'! Three major challenges were clearly outlined, from stablecoin licensing to tokenized bonds, and now to today's tokenized gold ETFโHong Kong's digital asset infrastructure is being laid out product by product ๐ค๏ธ.
The 'Game Changer' mentioned by Chen Maobo has its first tangible sample today โ.
The significance of the collaboration chain between Hang Seng, HSBC, and HashKey lies not in the scale of HSGLD itself ๐, but in its validation of a fact: traditional financial institutions (Hang Seng, HSBC) and licensed digital asset platforms (HashKey) can collaborate seamlessly within a compliant framework ๐ค, moving real assets on-chain โ๏ธ. Once this paradigm is established, more assets and institutions will follow ๐.
RWA has taken the first step today in Hong Kong from concept to product ๐ช.#้ฆๆธฏRWA #RWA่ต้
