HashKey Group, a Hong Kong-based digital asset management and blockchain solutions provider, was announced as one of the winners of the “Digitising Trade Finance Tech Challenge” hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

Announced at the Hong Kong Fintech Week 2020, HashKey’s solution will create a toolkit that improves the usability of blockchain-based open data standards for documents and data in cross-border trade finance. With the solution, HashKey Group and its sister company Wanxiang Blockchain will collaborate with local regulators, universities, government agencies, and SMEs in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The challenge is a joint initiative of the Bank for International Settlement’s Innovation Hub (BISIH) and HKMA, designed to showcase the potential for new innovative technologies to resolve problems in trade finance (TradeTech).

It is supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Institute of Finance (IIF), the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and the Wolfsberg Group.

HashKey was awarded one of the ten prizes in a competition that attracted 103 applications from 24 cities in 16 countries. HashKey Group entered and won the competition with the support of sister company Wanxiang Blockchain.

“This year we are witnessing a rapid acceleration in the growth of digital commerce. As this trend continues, we are very excited by the potential of blockchain solutions to deliver the common data standards needed to bridge digital islands and allow for seamless digital trade.”

said Michel Lee, HashKey Group Executive President.

The project marks the second time the two companies received government recognition for its trade finance blockchain solutions. The project is an extension of current work with the Singapore government on blockchain-based digital trade facilitation.

HashKey Group and Wanxiang Blockchain are building blockchain-based supply chain finance solutions. Earlier in 2020, HashKey also won a blockchain-based trade data project awarded by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in Singapore.

The core of that project is integrating IMDA’s open, interoperability-focused TradeTrust blockchain document notarisation framework into the team’s trade and supply chain finance platforms.

HashKey Group’s proposal for the trade finance tech challenge

HashKey Group’s solution for the Digitising Trade Finance Tech Challenge includes working on an open source code to extend open data standards like TradeTrust to additional public blockchains. Because HashKey’s work is focused on improving the usability of open data standards, HashKey was specially recognised by the HKMA and BISIH.

The project team also seeks to collaborate with international and local institutions in the GBA to better facilitate legal recognition of electronic transferable records, and to support wider usage of blockchain address information in business entity registrations.

Finally, the project will be publishing an open set of customer onboarding standards that will facilitate cross-network acceptance of transacting business entities.

Recently, Fintech News Hong Kong had named HashKey as one of the promising fintech startups to watch out for in 2021.

Featured image: (L-R) Michel Lee, Executive President and Xiao Feng, Chairman of HashKey Group