Build it and they will come. That seems to be the idea behind wCBDC, one of the world’s first wholesale digital currency platforms to be introduced in the city. Unveiled by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s de facto central bank, the wholesale central bank digital currency pilot aims to enable companies and banks to reduce transaction costs and service fees, and speed up trade settlement from several days to just one, which many local merchants and traders, especially those lagging in fintech, will welcome. The city is rightly aiming for a first-mover advantage. A unified “ledger” using blockchain ... (full story)