Chainlink Helped Visa, ANZ, and Fidelity Do What Banks Have Been Trying to Do for Years

Visa, ANZ, ChinaAMC (HK), and Fidelity International have completed a cross-border settlement solution under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) e-HKD Pilot Programme Phase 2, using Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to move tokenized assets and digital currency between a permissioned bank blockchain and the public Ethereum network. 

The pilot demonstrated that an Australia-based investor can purchase a tokenized money market fund (MMF) from a Hong Kong asset manager with near-instant settlement and automated compliance checks, without going through traditional clearing intermediaries.

What Did the Pilot Actually Test?

The four institutions are one of 11 consortia in the HKMA's Phase 2 programme, which launched in September 2024 and focuses on the settlement of tokenized assets and the programmability of digital money.

Two experiments were run. 

In the first, ANZ and Fidelity International tested a flow where an Australian investor deposits AUD, receives ANZ's Australian dollar stablecoin (A$DC), and exchanges it for a wrapped hypothetical e-HKD. That wrapped e-HKD is then used to purchase tokenized Fidelity MMF units. 

In the second experiment, ANZ, Visa, and ChinaAMC (HK) replaced the e-HKD with tokenized HKD deposits. ANZ used Visa's Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) to mint those tokenized deposits using the ERC-3643 token standard, which embeds compliance rules like wallet whitelisting and transaction velocity limits directly into the token contract.

Both experiments used a delivery-versus-payment (DvP) structure, meaning the fund units and payment leg settle simultaneously in a single atomic transaction. Key capabilities tested include:

• Cross-chain transfer of tokenized HKD deposits between a permissioned chain and Ethereum
• Automated fund unit issuance triggered by on-chain NAV data
• Real-time identity verification with personally identifiable information (PII) kept off-chain
• Compliance enforcement embedded at the token level through ERC-3643

How Does Chainlink CCIP Connect a Private Bank Chain to Ethereum?

ANZ operates DASChain, a private permissioned Layer 2 blockchain using ZK Validium architecture, which combines zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology with institutional controls. Fidelity and ChinaAMC deployed their tokenized fund contracts on Ethereum's Sepolia testnet, a public network. Bridging the two directly, without a compliant interoperability layer, would create both security and regulatory gaps.

Chainlink CCIP handled that connection. It relayed wrapped e-HKD details from DASChain to Ethereum, verified cross-chain identity credentials (called CCID) in real time, and confirmed investor wallet eligibility before unlocking fund tokens on the destination chain.

Identity Verification and Settlement Inside One Transaction Flow

Rather than running compliance checks separately before a transaction, CCIP coordinated identity, compliance, and asset issuance in a single flow. Fidelity's Digital Transfer Agent (DTA) smart contract read on-chain NAV data and automatically issued the correct number of fund units once payment was confirmed on the other chain. No manual reconciliation was needed at the point of issuance.

Fernando Vazquez, President of Capital Markets at Chainlink Labs, said the pilot "proven how Chainlink powers real-world financial applications within existing regulatory frameworks and across public and permissioned blockchains."

What Is Atomic Settlement and Why Does It Matter Here?

Atomic settlement means both legs of a trade, payment and asset delivery, either complete together or neither goes through. In traditional fund settlement, cash and assets move through separate systems on different timelines. A failure in one does not automatically reverse the other, leaving counterparty exposure in the gap.

By pairing tokenized HKD deposits with tokenized MMF units in a single DvP transaction, the pilot achieved near-real-time settlement. Both ChinaAMC and Fidelity confirmed that the process eliminated intermediary delays and reduced reliance on manual back-office reconciliation.

Chainlink's Growing Footprint Across Institutional and DeFi Use Cases

This pilot sits alongside a broader set of CCIP deployments. Chainlink states its infrastructure has enabled more than $28 trillion in on-chain transaction value across its integrations.

Just a day before the HKMA pilot findings were published, Chainlink confirmed that CCIP is now live for bridging Coinbase's cbBTC (a 1:1 Bitcoin-backed token) from Base to Monad. Early protocol adopters on Monad include Curvance and Neverland, both launching cbBTC markets. William Reilly, head of strategic initiatives at Chainlink Labs, said cross-chain infrastructure "must scale as Bitcoin-backed assets grow into the tens of billions."

The two deployments reflect CCIP operating in distinct contexts: one inside a regulated institutional pilot involving CBDC-adjacent digital money, and the other connecting Bitcoin-backed liquidity into a new DeFi ecosystem.

Conclusion

The e-HKD Phase 2 pilot shows that the technical components for compliant cross-border tokenized fund settlement are functional today. Chainlink CCIP connected a permissioned bank chain to a public blockchain, verified investor identity in real time, and coordinated payment and delivery in a single atomic transaction. 

Visa's VTAP minted regulated tokenized deposits on demand. ERC-3643 enforced compliance at the token level without manual checks. What remains are the regulatory, governance, and operational standards needed to take these components from a controlled pilot into live markets at scale.

Resources

1. HKMA’s newly released report: e-HKD Pilot Programme Phase 2: Transforming Global Payments: The Role of Tokenized Money & Funds in Cross-Border Transactions

2. Chainlink on X: Post on March 4

3. Blog article by Monad: Chainlink Enables Bridging of Coinbase's cbBTC to the Monad DeFi Ecosystem