Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has unveiled “Synapse”, a new settlement acceleration platform for equities backed by smart contract technology. Synapse, developed to enhance the efficiency of post-trade processes, is built on the DAML programming language. It will be integrated into the Stock Connect, an HKEX-operated channel that provides international investors with access to a plethora of Mainland Chinese stocks via Hong Kong.

The platform will interface with the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation in Hong Kong through its Institutional Trade Processing service, ensuring centralized matching of cross-border transactions. This integration facilitates the automatic generation and transmission of settlement instructions to Synapse, optimizing the trade confirmation workflow.

In the context of HKEX’s announcement, it is noteworthy that Hong Kong has been swiftly positioning itself as a nerve center for Web3 companies, encouraged by China’s central government. This rapid development is underscored by the introduction of retail trading for licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in August. However, this transformation has not been without challenges, as evidenced by Hong Kong falling prey to its most significant Ponzi scheme to date, where the JPEX crypto exchange is implicated in the misappropriation of an estimated $166 million of user funds, an issue that is currently under investigation.