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Xinmei Shen

A Hong Kong subsidiary of China Merchants Bank has tokenised a US$3.5 billion money market fund on BNB Chain – the blockchain developed by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance – as the city’s real-world asset (RWA) drive continues to attract Chinese financial institutions.
CMB International Asset Management Limited partnered with BNB Chain to tokenise its CMB International USD Money Market Fund, issuing two tokens that would be available to accredited investors, the companies said on Wednesday.
The two tokens – CMBMINT and CMBIMINT – are distributed respectively by DigiFT, a crypto exchange focused on tokenised RWAs, and the investment platform OnChain.
RWAs refer to traditional financial instruments such as bonds, funds or real estate that are digitally represented on a blockchain. Tokenising these assets allows faster settlement, lower entry barriers and broader access to regulated investment products.
The collaboration showed how financial products could use the BNB Chain ecosystem to “reach a broader global investor base” and “reinforces BNB Chain’s ambition to become the tokenisation layer for all assets”, BNB Chain’s head of business development Sarah Song said in a statement.
The tokens, which represent units in CMB International’s USD money market fund, have been deployed on BNB Chain and support both fiat currency and stablecoin subscriptions, according to the firms.
The launch comes as a growing number of Chinese financial institutions explore tokenisation initiatives in Hong Kong, which has been working since 2022 to position itself as a digital asset hub.
The CMB International and BNB Chain initiative also comes despite reports that Beijing's securities watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has advised mainland brokerages to pause RWA projects in Hong Kong over concerns about overheating in the market.
Money market funds typically invest in safe, liquid, short-term instruments and offer higher yields and greater flexibility than traditional deposits. Tokenised versions of such funds have gained traction since last year as they provide investors with a low-risk crypto product that can offer better returns than stablecoins.
In February, ChinaAMC (HK), the Hong Kong arm of China Asset Management Company, launched the city’s first tokenised Hong Kong-dollar money market fund available to retail investors. It followed up in July with a yuan-denominated version.
BNB Chain was originally established by Binance but has since evolved into “a community-driven, permissionless and decentralised blockchain ecosystem” that is not owned or controlled by the exchange, according to a Binance statement on its website.
While Binance itself is not officially available in Hong Kong, which only allows licensed crypto exchanges to operate, BNB Chain has been expanding its business in the city this year.
In August, Chinese investment bank China Renaissance – which has financially underpinned some of China’s leading tech firms – said it had partnered with Binance founder Zhao Changpeng ’s family office, YZi Labs, buying US$100 million worth of BNB tokens.
The firm said it would “help facilitate compliant listings” of BNB on licensed Hong Kong virtual asset exchanges and promote BNB Chain adoption by listed companies in stablecoin and RWA tokenisation use cases.


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The partnership with Binance-linked blockchain BNB Chain expands tokenisation efforts in the city, even as regulators in Beijing have urged caution over the fast-growing RWA market


The partnership with Binance-linked blockchain BNB Chain expands tokenisation efforts in the city, even as regulators in Beijing have urged caution over the fast-growing RWA market.
