In a groundbreaking move, Hong Kong has awarded its inaugural stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture led by Standard Chartered and including Animoca Brands, as announced on Friday. This development marks the first batch of approvals under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which became effective in August 2025. According to HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue, the authority looks forward to the licensed issuers commencing operations in line with their plans, while effectively managing associated risks. The HKMA assessed a total of 36 applications and had indicated that the initial round of approvals would be limited, with the regulator prioritizing risk management, reserve quality, and anti-money-laundering controls.
The decision to license note-issuing banks first appears to be a deliberate move, with HSBC and Standard Chartered being two of the three commercial banks authorized to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes. 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 undergone identity verification.
Additionally, the travel rule applies to transfers exceeding HK$8,000 (~$1,000). This means that HKD stablecoins will likely incorporate compliance checks into their smart contracts, restricting transfers to wallets listed in an on-chain white list, making them distinct from freely transferable tokens like USDT or USDC.
The bank-led stablecoin model also 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 emerged as a key focus area, with Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters stating that Hong Kong's push into stablecoins and tokenized deposits could lay the foundation for a new era of digital trade settlement. However, it remains to be seen whether the market will respond positively to this development, given that stablecoins are a roughly $310 billion asset class dominated by USD-denominated tokens.