Report: LME Plans to Tokenize Metals in Hong Kong Warehouses to Support Hong Kong's Five-Year Plan to Build a Commodity Trading Hub

According to media reports, the London Metal Exchange (LME) plans to convert metals held in its Hong Kong warehouses into digital assets that can be used for financing, further aligning with Hong Kong's first five-year plan to build the city into an international gold and commodity trading center. It is understood that the establishment of metal-backed digital assets aims to attract investors, traders, and financing institutions to participate, and is expected to bring new revenue streams to the LME. An LME spokesperson responded that the exchange is in the early stages of exploring the tokenization of off-warrant metal inventory to support business financing, and will maintain communication with various market stakeholders during the process of formulating the plan. Sources revealed that the LME has scheduled an invitation-only offline industry roundtable in early November to discuss the above topics. As off-warrant inventory currently lacks a standardized financing mechanism, implementing tokenization will help enhance market transparency and activate the asset financing function.