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, on Friday. The approvals, made by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory's central bank, represent the first batch of licenses issued under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which came into 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 managing risks effectively.' Yue also expressed hope that the promotion of regulated stablecoins will address existing pain points in financial and economic activities, create value for individuals and businesses, and support the healthy development of digital assets in Hong Kong. The HKMA evaluated 36 applications and had indicated that the initial round of approvals would be limited. Financial Secretary Paul Chan stated in his February budget address that only a small number of applicants would be approved, with the regulator prioritizing risk management, reserve quality, and anti-money-laundering controls.
The decision to license the city's note-issuing banks first appears to be deliberate, as HSBC and Standard Chartered are two of only three commercial banks authorized to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes. This system dates back to 1846, when private banks began issuing currency backed by silver deposits in the absence of a colonial central bank. Today, each note-issuing bank deposits U.S. dollars with the government's Exchange Fund at a fixed rate and receives Certificates of Indebtedness in return, against which it prints banknotes.
In a December 2023 blog post, Yue drew a parallel between pre-1935 banknotes issued by commercial banks in exchange for deposited silver and stablecoins, which function as their blockchain-based equivalent. The licenses come with one of the world's strictest Know Your Customer (KYC) frameworks for digital money. Under the HKMA's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines, licensed stablecoins can only be transferred to wallets whose owners have been identity-verified.
The travel rule applies to transfers above HK$8,000. In practice, 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. This makes them structurally different 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, as an 11-group pilot program found the retail case to be weak. Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters stated 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 agrees. Stablecoins are a roughly $310 billion asset class, with USD-denominated tokens dominating nearly all of it.
The question is whether a non-dollar stablecoin, however tightly regulated, can build the network effects needed to compete.