Arcartera Limited has been in close contact with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) since the beginning of the public e-HKD discussion. A discussion paper was recently published, with 12 questions attached, to continue paving the way for an official digital Hong Kong Dollar, potentially as Stable Coin:
1. Do you agree that e-HKD can bring potential benefits as described? Do you see other potential benefits?
2. How can e-HKD implement the suggested use cases better than the existing e-payment means? Apart from programmability, what other technologies would bring new use cases for e-HKD?
3. How do you see the demand for e-HKD as a means of payment? What other design features would promote the use of e-HKD?
4. Do you agree with the description of challenges brought by e-HKD? Do you see other challenges? Are there any other measures that can mitigate the adverse impacts of e-HKD? How would these measures affect the attractiveness of e-HKD?
5. How can e-HKD assist in the detection of illicit activities while preserving user privacy at the same time? 40 e-HKD: A Policy and Design Perspective
6. What types of financial institutions should be responsible for distributing e-HKD? Should the functionalities of the e-HKD wallet be allowed to differ among the financial institutions?
7. How should e-HKD be designed to achieve interoperability with existing payment systems? Are there any technological barriers that would prevent the acceptance of e-HKD?
8. Should there be different types of e-HKD wallets based on the level of personal information required? If so, what should the corresponding transaction/holding limits for each type of wallet be?
9. Are there more design considerations to be included in the e-HKD study? Would you be able to identify some trade-offs around such considerations?
10. How could the private sector contribute to the e-HKD journey?
11. Are there any other legal considerations, in addition to those discussed in this paper, which should be considered in designing a legally robust e-HKD?
12. Are there any other policy considerations which are relevant to e-HKD but not covered in this discussion paper?