In a landmark decision, Hong Kong has awarded its inaugural stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture led by Standard Chartered that includes Animoca Brands, as announced on Friday. This development follows the implementation of the Stablecoins Ordinance in August 2025.
According to HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue, "We anticipate that the licensed issuers will initiate their operations in line with their plans, exploring growth opportunities while effectively managing risks." Yue further expressed his hope that the promotion of regulated stablecoins would address existing challenges 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 and signaled that the initial round of approvals would be limited, 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. 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 subject to 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 embed 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 become a key focus, 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. Whether the market agrees remains to be seen, as stablecoins are 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.