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It's surprising to see CNBC (western media) reporting on this:







 
No matter an asserted gold backing, no one is going to accept a World Reserve Currency issued by a government that is opaque, both in holdings and in operations, and has a 75-year history of totalitarian behavior.

The same things now threatening the dollar as the world's reserve currency, work against China's two currencies. As the US slides into control by unseen oligarchs, with increasingly illogical, irresponsible decisions and actions...China, while behaving rationally at present, has not proven trustworthy.
 
SCMP

Hong Kong touts key advantages over London in bid to become global gold hub​

Financial services minister Christopher Hui says government backing, integrated settlement and Shanghai ties will distinguish city's gold trading ecosystem

Distinctive features will set Hong Kong apart from London, a major bullion hub, as the city accelerates efforts to develop an international gold and precious metals trading ecosystem covering the entire value chain, a minister has told the South China Morning Post.

In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said the city would officially launch a central gold clearing platform in the first quarter of next year. It would handle both physical delivery and payments, with the latter linked to the real-time gross settlement system.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/inv...-global-gold-hub/ar-AA2epY8U?ocid=socialshare
 
China has STABILITY. At least for the moment.

That is something London does NOT have.

Money doesn't like chaos. Otherwise, the Financial industry would have a heavy African presence.
 
searcher said:
Hong Kong touts key advantages over London in bid to become global gold hub
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Related:
Hong Kong is moving at “Hong Kong speed” to build a full gold and commodities ecosystem while advancing the yuan, according to Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui in a new SCMP interview after the LBMA conference in Italy.
Key points:

⭕️ Central gold clearing system (currently in pilot) launches formally in Q1 2027. It supports true DVP — physical delivery + cash settlement linked to RTGS — something London doesn’t currently offer in the same integrated way.

⭕️ Direct “Delivery Connect” collaboration with the Shanghai Gold Exchange, with settlement facilities for both markets based in Hong Kong.

⭕️ RMB gold futures details to be announced by HKEX before end-2026.

⭕️Storage capacity targeted to exceed 2,000 tonnes within three years (government + private sector), plus more refining capacity coming onshore.

⭕️ From the Oct 2024 Policy Address announcement to full clearing implementation in roughly 15 months — cited as concrete “Hong Kong speed.” Positive feedback from industry participants at LBMA on the timetable and readiness.

⭕️LBMA Asia Forum coming to Hong Kong in April 2027, by which time the clearing house should be live.

⭕️On the yuan: Hui framed it as serving the real economy, not just financialization. Asian economies (ASEAN is already HK’s second-largest trading partner) are trading more among themselves, and the RMB’s lower interest rates vs the USD make it increasingly practical for trade settlement and financing. Hong Kong remains the largest offshore RMB hub. Retail e-CNY acceptance among local merchants is also growing, helped by deeper integration with the mainland.

🎯Overall pitch: Asia-time-zone venue that combines trading, storage, clearing, refining, and risk management under one ecosystem, with government backing and Shanghai connectivity.

🔶DVP (Delivery versus Payment)
A settlement mechanism in which the transfer of an asset (e.g., physical gold or securities) and the corresponding payment occur simultaneously and are conditional on each other. One side only delivers if the other side pays, and vice versa. This eliminates the risk that one party delivers the asset but does not receive payment (or the reverse).

🔶RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement)
A payment system in which transfers of funds are settled individually (gross) and immediately (in real time) once the payment is submitted and funds are available, rather than being batched and netted at the end of the day. In Hong Kong’s context, the gold clearing system is being linked to the city’s RTGS system so that cash settlement can happen instantly and irrevocably alongside the physical gold delivery under the DVP process.
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This is an interesting discussion. Elon's Boring Company will change the world. Possibly changing the seats of world power.

This Changes Everything...​

00:00 Elon's Boring Company and the Bering Strait tunnel
01:27 Commerce over conflict: a land bridge to Russia
05:27 JFK, Khrushchev and the peace tunnel
06:43 The American System vs the City of London
11:18 Sea routes vs land routes: the choke points
12:40 God and Gold: how oil won the Navy
16:07 Europe pays Russia more than it gives Ukraine
21:14 Trump, Putin and Xi to end the Ukraine war
23:45 Rubio in Central Asia
26:22 Israel and Trump's Netanyahu endorsement
30:13 Trump and Netanyahu: no love lost
34:22 Was Soleimani a Mossad asset?
 
FRANKFURT, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank can strengthen the euro's global role and amplify the reach of its monetary policy by providing liquidity safety nets to foreign countries, ECB chief ‌economist Philip Lane said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a closed-door event in Shanghai titled "Monetary System Beyond the Dollar", Lane said demand for the ECB's recently expanded euro liquidity facilities had been strong, with more than 30 central banks expressing interest.
...
Lane argued that greater international use of the euro would enhance the ECB's ability to deliver on its inflation mandate by extending the global impact ‌of ⁠euro area monetary policy.

He said the ECB's EUREP facility, which allows foreign central banks to obtain euros against collateral denominated in the single currency, could boost bond markets in the 21-country bloc, particularly through increased purchases by official reserve ⁠managers.
...
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More:

But will it be more attractive than the gold collateral system that China is building? I think probably not.
 
Google Translate said:
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Xu Zhengyu, said that the trial operation of the Hong Kong Gold Central Clearing and Clearing System has been more than 3 months, and the process is smooth. At this stage, only goods will be involved. The transfer bank's monetary settlement system will be completed by the end of this year.

He said the gold central clearing and settlement system will operate in the first quarter of next year, and the members of the settlement company will include 11 banks, and customers can use the bank as an entry point to enter the market. Xu Zhengyu said that the industry is very supportive of the full chain planning of the authorities, the government will take into account the front-end warehousing and other arrangements, the participation model of the gold elixir in Hong Kong is different, some of which are new in cooperation with established enterprises, and the policies of the authorities can help enterprises to improve and match international standards.
...
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www.orangenews.hk

許正宇：黃金中央清算及結算系統下季營運 本港已存有逾6萬噸有色金屬

財經事務及庫務局局長許正宇表示，香港黃金中央清算及結算系統試運行逾3個月，過程順暢，現階段只涉及貨，今年底前會完成接駁銀行貨幣結算系統，亦會向巿場介紹人民幣黃金合約實物交收，及成立認可的行業協會。
www.orangenews.hk www.orangenews.hk

Hong Kong gold hub development is moving full steam ahead.
 
Hong Kong is launching an interbank tokenised gold project to advance its goals as a digital and physical precious-metals trading hub.

🔶Key announcement

At Hong Kong Fintech Week (2 November 2026), Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said the city will introduce a gold token that represents a standard 400-ounce gold bar. Pricing will reference HAU, Hong Kong’s own gold price ticker launched earlier in 2026.

The project builds on experience from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Project Ensemble (the 2024 pilot for tokenisation and digital currency). It aims to move tokenised gold “from sandbox experimentation to scalable, real-value production.”

🔶How it works and why it matters

⭕️ Physical gold is linked to digital tokens.

⭕️ Settlements will use tokenised deposits, so banks can trade without moving physical bars or relying on traditional transfers.

⭕️ Expected benefits: faster settlement, lower costs, and better efficiency.

⭕️ This fits Hong Kong’s broader strategy to strengthen its role as a global gold and digital-asset centre, alongside other steps such as expanded vault capacity, links with the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and related pilots (including China CITIC Bank International and the Hong Kong Gold Exchange’s recent delivery-versus-payment tests targeting a 2027 commercial launch).

🎯In short: Hong Kong is moving tokenised gold from pilot stage toward real interbank use, using a 400-oz bar token priced on its local HAU benchmark, as part of its push to become a leading digital metals trading hub.
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^
SCMP (free)

Tokenised gold bar to advance Hong Kong’s ambitions as digital, metal trading hub

Hong Kong’s plan to start an interbank tokenised gold transaction project marks a crucial step in its quest to make itself a key global hub for the precious metal, according to analysts.

The city planned to launch a gold token representing a standard 400-ounce gold bar, referencing HAU, Hong Kong’s ticker for gold prices launched earlier this year, said Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu during the annual Fintech Week event on Monday.

More:

 
Bottom Feeder said:
What do you think one of those pretend 400-ounce gold bars are gonna cost?
$1,572,040 or so?
<heh>
View attachment 21846
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I'm thinking moar of a dystopian setup where gold, widgets, anything...cannot be sold or owned without a digital token identifying ownership.

What that does, is, first, identify uppity peons for a Wealth Tax. And to be liberated of their gold, once the time comes.

And to OUTLAW ownership of UNRECORDED GOLD. No digital title, no ownership. It'll be like a land or vehicle title.

Basically, one moar step to owning nothing, so Davos Man will be happy.
 
Mark said:
RUSSIA PLANS GOLD CURRENCY WITHOUT BRICS: THE DOLLAR BYPASS JUST MOVED TO MINSK

Western gold investors watch rate cuts and price charts. Russian and Chinese sources just revealed something far more structural: a concrete plan for a digital world settlement currency linked to gold and commodities, built inside the Russia-Belarus Union State, without waiting for BRICS.

THE MINSK CONFERENCE
➡️ TASS reported on the fourth Minsk Conference for Eurasian Security, attended by Belarus, Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Kazakhstan, Iran and others.
➡️ Sergei Glazyev, State Secretary of the Union State, stated that mutual trade inside the Union State and the Eurasian Economic Union has already shifted to national currencies.
➡️ “We no longer use the dollar, the euro, the pound or other currencies that have become toxic and are used as political instruments for pressure.”

THE DIGITAL GOLD STEP
➡️ Glazyev said nothing prevents launching a global settlement currency as the next step, based in the high-tech center in Minsk, with relevant proposals already on the table.
➡️ Russian newspaper versions (omitted in the English TASS summary) quote him calling for a move away from “the archaic monetary and financial system based on the issuance of a private world currency by the joint-stock company US Federal Reserve System” — “a giant financial pyramid we all subsidize.”
➡️ The replacement is “a modern system based on an international agreement and the introduction of a world settlement currency in digital form,” linked to SCO national currencies or a commodity basket of goods they produce and consume.
➡️ First approaches already exist: stablecoins linked to gold or exchange-traded commodities.

WHY NOT BRICS
➡️ Russia’s earlier Unit currency push with BRICS stalled on India’s resistance and the slow pace of other members.
➡️ China is no longer prioritizing BRICS for dollar bypass; it is instead accelerating the Hong Kong gold trading center to make offshore renminbi liquid and convertible without mainland capital controls.
➡️ Both countries have learned to build working solutions themselves rather than wait for the full BRICS group, and Russia no longer announces exact projects in advance.

THE A7A5 LESSON AND THREE-STEP PATH
➡️ The early-2025 A7A5 ruble stablecoin worked until blockchain signatures allowed tracing; once users could no longer exit into dollars under new sanctions, volume collapsed.
➡️ Glazyev’s 2022 three-step plan is now visible in practice: neighbor trade already ~95% in local currencies; financial instruments to be priced in those currencies (China is closing the yuan convertibility gap via Hong Kong gold); a new digital currency secured by a commodity basket plus national currencies.

GOLD INFRASTRUCTURE AND CENTRAL BANKS
➡️ Russia signed a deal this week for a Russian gold refinery in Nigeria, expanding physical gold infrastructure the same way China has done.
➡️ The preparation is not for one single gold currency but for gold re-entering finance through currency projects, tokenization, convertibility, trade expansion and collateralization of the system.
➡️ Central-bank buying data released this week show the third quarter strong enough to offset a weak first quarter, putting the year on track to exceed 2025 purchases; September saw the highest official buying since November 2024.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Russia and China are no longer waiting for BRICS consensus. They are building parallel settlement rails — digital, commodity-linked and explicitly gold-referenced — while official gold demand keeps rising. The path to a post-dollar system does not run around gold; it runs through it.
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