⚠️ HRF CBDC ⛓️🪙 alert from HRF for Hong Kong (19-MAR-2024)

🗝️ℹ️ (Key Information)

CBDC Status: Pilot

CBDC Launch: n/a

CBDC Model: n/a

CBDC Issued: n/a

Inflation Rate: 1.88%

One-Sentence Summary:

Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) ongoing development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) raises concerns about potential human rights abuses amidst crackdown on freedoms under China's control.

✅ 🇭🇰 is in a continuous journey to develop their CBDC, with extensive proof-of-concept and pilot projects undertaken by HKMA.

✅ HKMA started with a proof-of-concept in 2017 named Project LionRock, testing how a wholesale CBDC could manage large-value payments and payment settlements.

✅ Two years later, HKMA collaborated with Bank of Thailand on a CBDC prototype for cross-border payments, called Project Inthanin-LionRock.

✅ In 2021, HKMA released a whitepaper on technical considerations for a retail CBDC, focusing on a two-tier distribution model.

✅ The Rail 2 - e-HKD or the Rail 2 Pilot program began in November 2022. The HKMA accepted applications until January 31, 2023.

✅ Early 2023 saw HKMA selecting 16 firms, including giants like Ripple, Visa, and Mastercard, to participate in the pilot program and test various CBDC designs.

✅ By October 2023, HKMA released a report on the first phase of the pilot program. This report opened up discussions on CBDC's potential benefits but stated that a decision to launch a CBDC was not made yet.

✅ The second phase of HKMA's retail CBDC pilot, along with a new wholesale CBDC project called Project Ensemble, was announced in 2024.

✅ HKMA also collaborated with the Bank for International Settlements on a wholesale CBDC project, named Project mBridge.

✅ However, human rights concerns emerge with the developments - since the Chinese control of Hong Kong, freedoms in the region have been compromised.

✅ According to reports, Hong Kong authorities have used authoritarian means to silence dissenting voices, and the development of CBDCs could potentially amplify this issue.

Hashtags:

#HumanRights #FinancialFreedom #HongKong #CentralBank #DigitalCurrency #HKMA

Question:

Considering the potential risks and benefits, how do you think the development and implementation of CBDCs in places like 🇭🇰 will impact individuals' financial freedom and human rights?

Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of the original text from HRF, forigve fuck-ups plox. If you find it useful, ⚡ the Tracker Bot because the AI and Cloud bits are not free to run.

Source of data: https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home (npub1zhqcda52mrvcc0vkwegwsp5xtpk6l6x5kqx85f06tu9lw5h6xx0scch0dw)

CBDC Tracker bot brought to you by npub18s59mqct7se3xkhxr3epkagvuydwtvhpsacj67shrta8eknynegqttz5c3

#plebstr