The Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted its first stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture led by Standard Chartered that includes Animoca Brands, on Friday. The approvals mark the first batch under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect in August 2025. According to HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue, "We look forward to the issuers launching their businesses as planned, exploring growth opportunities while properly managing risks." The regulator assessed 36 applications and prioritized 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. The licenses come with 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. 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. The bank-led stablecoin model reflects the HKMA's decision to deprioritize its central bank digital currency for retail use.
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters believes that Hong Kong's push into stablecoins and tokenized deposits could "lay the foundation for a new era of digital trade settlement," positioning them as a new medium for cross-border commerce. However, it remains to be seen whether the market will agree, given that USD-denominated tokens dominate the stablecoin market.