In a landmark move, Hong Kong has issued its inaugural stablecoin licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture led by Standard Chartered that includes Animoca Brands, as announced on Friday. This decision follows the implementation of the Stablecoins Ordinance in August 2025 and signifies the first batch of approvals by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the territory's central bank. According to HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue, "We anticipate the licensed issuers will initiate their operations as planned, exploring growth opportunities while effectively managing risks." Yue also expressed hopes that the promotion of regulated stablecoins will address existing pain points in financial and economic activities, create value for both individuals and businesses, and support the healthy development of digital assets in Hong Kong.
The HKMA evaluated 36 applications, with the initial round being limited, prioritizing risk management, reserve quality, and anti-money-laundering controls. The decision to license note-issuing banks first appears to be deliberate, with HSBC and Standard Chartered being two of the three commercial banks authorized to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes. This system, which dates back to 1846, involves note-issuing banks depositing U.S. dollars with the government's Exchange Fund at a fixed rate and receiving Certificates of Indebtedness in return, against which they print banknotes.
In a December 2023 blog post, Yue drew parallels between pre-1935 banknotes issued by commercial banks in exchange for deposited silver and stablecoins, which function as their blockchain-based equivalent. The licenses are accompanied by one of the world's strictest Know Your Customer (KYC) frameworks for digital money, requiring licensed stablecoins to be transferred only to wallets whose owners have been identity-verified, with the travel rule applying to transfers above HK$8,000. This means that HKD stablecoins will likely embed compliance checks into their smart contracts, restricting transfers to wallets listed in an on-chain white list, making them structurally different from freely transferable tokens. The bank-led stablecoin model reflects the HKMA's decision to deprioritize its central bank digital currency for retail use, following an 11-group pilot program that found the retail case to be weak.
Instead, stablecoins have become a key focus, with Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters suggesting that Hong Kong's push into stablecoins and tokenized deposits could lay the foundation for a new era of digital trade settlement. The market's response remains to be seen, with stablecoins being a roughly $310 billion asset class dominated by USD-denominated tokens. Hong Kong is betting that regulated, bank-issued HKD stablecoins can carve out a role in regional trade settlement, but the question remains whether a non-dollar stablecoin can build the necessary network effects to compete.