According to Hong Kong Economic Times, on August 28th, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (hereinafter referred to as "HKMA") announced the progress of the first phase of the Ensemble project (sandbox) and provided a detailed introduction to the four major tokenized asset cases in the first phase. The first domestic transaction based on renewable energy physical assets RWA, which was completed in Hong Kong by LongShine Technology in collaboration with Ant Digital, was officially announced, and it is the most attention-grabbing among the four tokenization-themed cases announced this time.

Photo caption: The scene of the event held by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority

RWA (Real World Assets-tokenization) refers to a form of transaction where asset ownership is traded in digital form (tokens) on the blockchain. Compared to the difficulties of confirming ownership and trading physical assets, RWA can divide physical assets into multiple "on-chain" digital assets, leveraging the interoperability of the global blockchain network to bring more liquidity to physical assets and reduce transaction and financing costs.

Previously, there had been news in the market that this deal was jointly completed with the support of UBS in Hong Kong. Ant Digital provided artificial intelligence, blockchain, and IoT integration technology, while Longxin Group served as the new energy asset provider. The financing amounted to approximately 100 million RMB, which will be used in the energy storage and charging pile industries in the new energy sector. This funding will provide construction and operational support to thousands of small and medium-sized energy storage and charging pile operators, thereby boosting the development of the new energy industry in mainland China.

Zhao Wenbiao, CEO of Ant Digital Tech, attended the launch event of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He expressed that Ant Digital Tech is deeply honored to be among the inaugural participants of the Ensemble project and to provide technology and solutions for it. With the support of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Ant Digital Tech can engage in various innovative projects and apply the digital technologies it has accumulated over the years. "In the future, we will also collaborate with more partners to launch diversified RWA projects, providing technical support for high-quality projects in China and globally, especially new energy entity projects, to help them gain more development opportunities. We also welcome partners who are willing to explore the support of new technologies for the real economy.". ”

It is reported that on the same day, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also announced a series of thematic cases including "Green and Sustainable Finance", "Trade and Supply Chain Finance", "Fixed Income Investment", and "Liquidity Management". Among them, Ant Digital Tech, as a deep participant, assisted the Monetary Authority in building a tokenized asset platform within the sandbox and provided two thematic cases: "Green and Sustainable Finance" and "Trade and Supply Chain Finance". The case related to "Green and Sustainable Finance" is associated with Longxin Technology. In the case of "Trade and Supply Chain Finance", through the tokenized asset platform built by Ant Digital Tech, the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) issued an electronic bill of lading (eBL). In this process, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) facilitated the use of tokenized deposits to settle the transfer of the electronic bill of lading.

Bian Zhuoqun, President of Ant Digital Technology's Blockchain Business

Bian Zhuoqun, President of Ant Digital's blockchain business, shared on the spot, "In the future, Ant Digital hopes to establish a new RWA hub in Hong Kong, aiming to provide practical financing solutions for ESG projects in mainland China and around the world."”

The Ensemble project, as an important financial innovation initiative in Hong Kong, was officially launched in May 2024. The security and stability of the ecosystem are of utmost importance, and it is also necessary to guard against money laundering risks. It is understood that the working group is composed of cross-sector industry representatives, with initial members including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Center under the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements, the CBDC Expert Group, and seven corporate institutions, namely Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, HashKey Group, Ant Financial, and Microsoft Hong Kong.

Ant Digital Tech is an independently operated technology business subsidiary of Ant Group. In 2023, Ant Digital Tech officially launched ZAN, a Web3 product and service brand, serving Web3 institutions and covering Web3 nodes, data, security, and ZK hardware acceleration. Public information shows that Ant Digital Tech began investing in blockchain technology in 2015, with the number of related patents ranking first globally. In recent years, it has made numerous attempts in industrial integration. Prior to this cooperation, it had built the world's largest blockchain platform for new energy equipment, with over 12 million devices on the blockchain.