The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on the 18th the launch of the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" pilot program, with 16 selected companies from the financial, payment, and technology sectors scheduled to conduct their first round of trials this year. The experiment will delve into the potential use cases of "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" in six categories, including comprehensive payment, programmable payment, offline payment, token deposit, third generation Internet (Web3) transaction settlement, and token asset settlement. Through repeated experiments, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority can draw practical experience from the results of each experiment and improve the possible implementation of the "digital Hong Kong dollar". The President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Yu Weiwen, stated that although the Authority has not decided whether or when to launch the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar", the pilot plan is a good opportunity for the Authority to collaborate with the industry to explore innovative use cases and prepare for the possible launch of the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" in the future. It is reported that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is preparing for the possible launch of retail level central bank digital currency, also known as the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar", through a three track approach. The pilot plan launched this time is an important component of the second track. (New News Agency)