Hong Kong approves 24/7 secondary trading for two tokenised money-market funds

What happened

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission said on October 26 that it has approved secondary trading in two tokenised money-market funds that were already authorised in the city, with the units set to change hands around the clock on a licensed virtual-asset platform. The products are ChinaAMC's Hong Kong-dollar and US-dollar digital money-market funds.

The approval is narrower than it may first appear. Tokenised versions of these funds already existed; what is new is a regulated venue where one investor can sell to another without every trade passing through a subscription or a redemption with the fund manager. That structure lets holders adjust cash positions when the underlying money markets are shut, including at weekends and outside Asian business hours.

The commission presented the step as part of a pilot rather than a general liberalisation. The approval applies to specified products operating inside a framework the regulator introduced in April 2026, and it does not amount to blanket permission for tokenised investments to trade continuously. The SFC said it will keep watching how trading develops and will consider whether to widen the list of eligible products.

Why it matters

A token settles quickly, but it does not abolish the mechanics of fund pricing. A secondary-market quote can drift away from the fund's net asset value, and a genuine two-way market depends on buyers, sellers and market makers being present at three in the morning as readily as at midday. Spreads, depth and the reliability of reference pricing will decide whether round-the-clock trading is a practical convenience or a thin order book with a recognisable logo.

The change also shifts operational duties onto the platform. Surveillance, fair pricing and customer protection have to continue outside conventional exchange hours, and the value of instant trading depends on how proceeds move back into ordinary bank accounts. Settlement arrangements matter as much as the existence of a 24-hour market.

Background

Hong Kong has taken a stepwise approach to tokenisation, attaching new market activity to funds that are already authorised and to venues that are already licensed, rather than treating tokens as interchangeable with the assets behind them. The April 2026 pilot set expectations for how the trading channel should operate, how prices should be set fairly, how liquidity should be provided and what firms must disclose to investors.

Other regulators are examining related questions. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it will host an industry roundtable on December 15 at its Washington headquarters to discuss whether derivatives markets can support 24/7 trading, following a request for comment earlier in the summer. The agenda covers overnight trading, tokenisation, infrastructure and staffing needs, and operational readiness. The agency's chairman said it would not apply a single template across asset classes. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed, with the agenda and speakers to be announced later.

What to watch

The measures that will show whether the Hong Kong pilot works are unglamorous: bid-ask spreads, how far traded prices sit from net asset value, market depth, volumes, and evidence that redemption channels keep functioning under stress. Also worth tracking is whether the SFC extends eligibility beyond the two ChinaAMC products, and whether settlement into conventional accounts keeps pace with trading.

For readers, the distinction is between a market-structure milestone and an investment outcome. A regulatory approval can expand what a product is able to do without determining what it is worth, and tokens, fund shares and service agreements carry different rights even when they sit in the same wallet or on the same platform.

Questions readers ask