Helping you navigate the future of finance

Digital assets are assets, rights or forms of value represented and transferred using digital infrastructure, often including distributed ledger technology. For institutional clients, these can include tokenised securities, tokenised deposits, regulated stablecoins, central bank digital currencies and other digital representations of financial assets.

Digital assets and currencies can help reduce processing steps, enable faster settlement and improve the movement of cash, securities and collateral across connected networks. Their effectiveness depends on factors including interoperability, regulation, liquidity and the design of the underlying infrastructure.

Digital assets can include crypto-assets, as well as regulated tokenised financial instruments and forms of digital money. Please note that in certain jurisdictions, there are specific regulations associated with digital assets and currencies, and the related definitions may vary.

Digital asset custody involves the secure safekeeping and administration of digital assets and the cryptographic keys used to access them. Institutional-grade digital asset custody services can also include governance, asset segregation, operational controls, reporting and risk-management processes.

Tokenised deposits are digital representations of commercial bank deposits recorded on digital or programmable infrastructure. They may support faster movement of funds, 24/7 settlement and new treasury or liquidity use cases while remaining a liability of the issuing commercial bank.

It may vary by jurisdiction and legal structure; do not assume equivalent protection or depositor treatment without formal confirmation.

Tokenisation is the process of representing ownership or rights in a real-world asset as a digital token. Depending on the asset and market structure, it can support more efficient issuance, transfer and settlement, improve transparency and potentially increase access or liquidity.

 No. It may support more efficient processes, but outcomes depend on legal structure, market adoption, infrastructure, liquidity and participant readiness.

Digital securities are regulated financial instruments issued, recorded or serviced using distributed ledger technology. They retain the legal and economic characteristics of traditional securities while potentially enabling greater automation across issuance, administration and settlement.

Stablecoins are privately issued digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value. Tokenised deposits represent commercial bank money, while central bank digital currencies are digital forms of central bank money. Their issuers, legal structures, risk profiles and potential use cases are therefore different.

Institutions should assess the business case, regulatory treatment, custody model, technology, interoperability, cyber security, operational resilience, accounting and tax implications, and internal governance. A clearly defined use case and phased implementation approach can help manage complexity and risk.

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value, typically pegged to a fiat currency such as the US dollar, or to other assets. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins aim to combine the programmability and speed of digital assets with the price stability of traditional money. For institutional clients, stablecoins can support faster settlement, treasury management and cross-border payment efficiency — operating under appropriate regulatory frameworks such as the FCA's e-money regime, MiCA in Europe, and MAS guidelines in Singapore.

Blockchain-based cross-border payments can reduce the number of intermediaries in a payment chain, enable near-real-time settlement, and improve transparency of payment status across correspondent banking networks. For institutional clients, blockchain cross-border payments can lower transaction costs, reduce counterparty risk through atomic settlement, and extend the operating hours for certain payment flows beyond traditional banking windows. HSBC's wholesale digital currency infrastructure is designed to support these capabilities within established regulatory frameworks.

Digital asset tokenisation converts ownership rights in real-world assets — such as bonds, funds, or commodities — into digital tokens on programmable infrastructure. This can enable fractional ownership, near-continuous trading windows, and faster settlement compared to traditional market infrastructure. For institutional investors, tokenisation of financial assets may improve portfolio liquidity, reduce settlement risk, and open access to asset classes that were previously difficult to trade efficiently. HSBC Orion has enabled $5bn+ in digital bond issuances — demonstrating live institutional-grade tokenisation at scale.