Cyberport has opened the second round of its blockchain and digital asset pilot subsidy scheme. Approved projects can each receive up to 80% of their actual cost, capped at HK$500,000.

Hong Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) commissioned the scheme. The window closes on 31 December 2026, and projects must be completed by 30 June 2027.

Tech firms work with a business partner, known as a Project Sponsor, to build and test blockchain solutions.

One focus is real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation, which records ownership of an asset as a token on a blockchain.

Sponsors may come from banking, payments, insurance, securities, logistics and other sectors. Firms licensed by the HKMA, SFC, Insurance Authority or MPFA also qualify.

Each project needs a signed sponsor agreement. It must also solve a business problem that has no prior use case in Hong Kong. The sponsor must not have used the solution in live operations before.

Applicants must be companies set up in Hong Kong that already do business there. They may submit up to three bids, including joint ones and those from related firms.

Half of the subsidy is paid once the funding agreement is signed and supporting papers are submitted. The rest follows when the project ends and the final reports are approved.

A panel that includes regulators and academics will advise Cyberport before it approves any project. Impact and commercial potential count the most in the scoring.

Launched in June 2025, the first round drew more than 200 bids and admitted nine projects. Most of these have since been put into commercial use, according to Cyberport.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on image by Cyberport via its website, yeppalicious and 4045 via Magnific.