Hong Kong has granted its first stablecoin issuance licenses to joint ventures backed by HSBC and Standard Chartered, marking a pivotal step in the city’s bid to build a tightly regulated hub for digital assets.
AnchorPoint Financial, a consortium led by HSBC and Standard Chartered, received approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on April 10, roughly eight months after the city’s stablecoin ordinance came into force, the South China Morning Post reported. The announcement arrived later than many market participants had anticipated.
The HKMA had previously disclosed that it reviewed 36 applications and would approve only a handful, underscoring its intent to prioritize prudence over speed as it opens the door to tokenized payment instruments.
“Both applicants possess experience in traditional finance and risk management,” said Darryl Chan, deputy chief executive of the HKMA. “This aligns with the role of stablecoins as a bridge connecting traditional and digital finance.”
Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar or the Hong Kong dollar, and they function as a primary settlement and payment rail in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Regulators worldwide have increasingly focused on their design and backing, arguing that their perceived stability must be matched by robust oversight.
HSBC said it plans to introduce a Hong Kong dollar-denominated stablecoin in the second half of this year, integrating it into its PayMe payment app and its mobile banking platform. In the initial rollout, the token will support peer‑to‑peer transfers as well as payments between consumers and merchants. The bank also intends to allow customers to subscribe to investment products within the app using the new coin.
“While stablecoins do not pay interest, they will enable faster payments,” said Maggie Ng, chief executive of HSBC Hong Kong, adding that the bank may offer rewards to spur adoption among retail users and merchants. She said HSBC is considering expanding the product next year to include tokens pegged to other currencies.
AnchorPoint, a separate joint venture formed by Standard Chartered, crypto investment firm Animoca Brands and Hong Kong Telecommunications, plans to launch a Hong Kong dollar-pegged token called “HKD At Par” (HKDAP) beginning in the second quarter.
“Initially, we will focus on institutional investors,” said Dominic Maffei, AnchorPoint’s chief executive. He said HKDAP is designed to lower transaction costs and support 24‑hour settlement, a key selling point for global funds and trading firms seeking round‑the‑clock liquidity in regulated instruments.
Hong Kong authorities emphasized that licensed issuers are free to choose which fiat currency their stablecoins track. However, they drew a clear line around the renminbi: any yuan‑pegged stablecoin would require approval from mainland Chinese regulators.
Beijing in February explicitly barred the issuance of yuan‑based stablecoins overseas without prior authorization, a move seen as an attempt to retain tight control over the international use of its currency even as Hong Kong experiments with regulated digital finance.
By granting the first licenses to entities anchored in global banking and local infrastructure, Hong Kong is signaling that its stablecoin regime will be built around established institutions rather than crypto‑native upstarts. How quickly these new tokens gain traction—with both institutional and retail users—will test whether a heavily supervised model can compete with the speed and scale of unregulated stablecoin markets that have so far dominated global crypto trading.
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