Hong Kong's first batch of stablecoin licenses issued: Traditional finance gets the keys first, Web3 remains on the sidelines

Author | Wu Blockchain

On April 10, 2026, Hong Kong's stablecoin regulation entered the 'operational' phase: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it had granted stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as the joint venture Anchorpoint FinTech Co., Ltd., formed by Anni Group and Hong Kong Telecommunications. The licenses took effect immediately, and both institutions are expected to commence operations within the coming months after completing the necessary preparations. Following this news, related Hong Kong stocks rose, with Guotai Junan International seeing a maximum increase of 27.69%, and Yunfeng Finance (a stablecoin-related stock) rising by 8.74%.

The HKMA subsequently updated the 'Register of Licensed Stablecoin Issuers,' disclosing basic information about the two licensees.

Possible direction of the next round of licenses

The question of who will receive the next round of licenses is the market's biggest concern, but from a regulatory perspective, it is closer to 'no timetable and no names.' The complete list of '36 applicants' in Hong Kong and their respective reasons for rejection have not been disclosed. One can only infer 'why these two' based on the HKMA's description of the screening criteria.

Information from the HKMA technical briefing reported by Radio Television Hong Kong shows that Eddie Yue stated that any future issuance of new licenses will adhere to the principle of being 'open yet cautious,' with no clear inclination at this stage; even if more licenses are issued in the future, the total number will remain very limited.

HKMA Deputy Chief Executive Arthur Yuen further explained: the decision to issue licenses was the result of a comprehensive comparison of various application conditions. It 'happened' that both institutions had banking backgrounds. Additionally, according to industry media reports, Yuen emphasized that there is currently no 'timetable for issuing additional licenses,' and when they will be issued will depend on factors such as implementation outcomes, market acceptance, and international trends, without disclosing the list of potential applicants.

In the early stages of the system's implementation, the HKMA clearly stated in July 2025 when releasing the policy implementation document package: licensing will be an ongoing process, but institutions wishing to be considered 'as soon as possible' need to submit their applications by September 30, 2025. Meanwhile, the HKMA reminded market participants to be cautious in their external communications to avoid creating unrealistic expectations, pointing out that under the Stablecoin Regulations, 'falsely claiming to be a license holder or applicant' constitutes a criminal offense. This also explains why the 'next round of names' is difficult to confirm in advance at the official level.

What is most worth observing in the next round are still the remaining participants in the HKMA's stablecoin issuer sandbox. In July 2024, the HKMA announced the first batch of sandbox participants, including JD.com Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong) and Yuan Coin Innovation Technology.

However, the HKMA made it very clear at the time: the sandbox is merely a mechanism for 'small-scale trials,' aimed at allowing institutions to test processes and refine rules with regulators under controlled risk conditions. Participants cannot access public funds initially, nor can they sell products to the public or solicit funds. In other words, entering the sandbox is more like taking a practice exam rather than having obtained a license, let alone being able to officially issue coins.

Aside from sandbox institutions, some large companies have also publicly expressed intentions. For instance, media reports indicated that Ant Group International stated after the passage of the Stablecoin Regulation Draft in 2025 that it would submit its application promptly once the application window opens, hoping to use stablecoins in real-world business scenarios such as cross-border payments and fund management.

However, the gap between such 'intentions' and the actual 'licensing results' has dampened market enthusiasm. Many had expected this to mark the beginning of Crypto's path toward compliance in Hong Kong, but instead, it appears to be innovation in form only, unable to break the existing mold. Native Crypto ecosystems and tech giants are still seen as outsiders. The Hong Kong government tightly binds innovative imagination with institutional caution, seemingly opening its doors wide to embrace Web3 newcomers while keeping control of stablecoin issuance firmly in the hands of traditional financial institutions.

However, the road from 'expressing intent' to 'actually obtaining a license' is evidently still long. This has tempered optimistic market expectations. Many had anticipated that this would be the starting point for Crypto to move toward compliance and into the mainstream system in Hong Kong. However, for now, it remains a case of seeming reform without breaking the entrenched status quo.

The institutions that truly get the first batch of tickets remain primarily those with the deepest roots in traditional finance and the most trusted by regulators. On the surface, Hong Kong has opened its doors to Web3; but when it comes to the critical authority to issue currency, control remains firmly in the hands of traditional finance. To put it bluntly, while Hong Kong welcomes innovation, it does not plan to hand over the key to stablecoins to native Crypto projects or tech giants.

Standard Chartered's HKDAP issuance roadmap

The shareholder structure of Ding Point itself already indicates that it is not an ordinary stablecoin company. Behind it stand Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, HKT, and Animoca Brands, representing banking compliance, payment channels, and Web3 ecosystem capabilities, respectively. This means that from the outset, this stablecoin simultaneously connects to a 'bank vault,' 'payment gateway,' and 'on-chain application network'—it possesses both the licenses, risk control, and governance capabilities most valued by the traditional financial system and the user reach and application scenarios most scarce in Web3 projects. It was initially structured around who handles compliance, who handles traffic, and who handles implementation.

On April 10, 2026, the day the license was issued, Standard Chartered's latest press release disclosed Ding Point’s specific products and strategy: Ding Point plans to issue regulated Hong Kong Dollar stablecoins, HKDAP (HKD At Par), 'in phases' starting from Q2 2026, using a B2B2C model and providing access to the public through 'selected authorized distributors.' Additionally, Ding Point will offer incentives to early ecosystem partners.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) summary of licensing requirements states that non-recognized institution applicants must be companies registered in Hong Kong (or establish a local subsidiary in Hong Kong as the application entity); applicants must meet financial resource requirements, including a hard threshold of having paid-up capital of no less than 25 million Hong Kong dollars (or equivalent freely convertible currency, or other financial resources recognized by the HKMA). For each type of stablecoin proposed for issuance, the issuer must maintain an independent and segregated reserve asset pool and establish written custodial arrangements with qualified custodians. The market value of reserve assets must not fall below the face value of circulating stablecoins at any time, and appropriate over-collateralization should be considered as a buffer. Issuers must also establish effective trust arrangements to segregate reserve assets and protect holders’ rights.

As one of the note-issuing banks in Hong Kong, Standard Chartered has laid a solid foundation for compliance, ensuring full integration across the entire chain of reserve assets/custody/trust/audit/redemption processes while completing the screening, onboarding, and integration of the authorized distribution system. This is directly related to the HKMA’s minimum standards for reserve segregation, custody arrangements, trust structures, and redemption within one business day.

More notably, Ding Point has not positioned the stablecoin as merely a trading tool but explicitly targeted two more practical use cases: settlement and distribution of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) and cross-border fund and payment flows. The former can be understood as follows: if bonds, funds, or other real-world assets are moved onto the blockchain in the future, HKDAP aims to become the currency 'responsible for clearing and settlement.'

The latter is closer to what ordinary people can understand—making cross-border transfers, settlements, and payments no longer go through layers of intermediaries like traditional bank transfers, which tend to take longer. In other words, Ding Point does not intend to create another 'tradable Hong Kong dollar token' but rather aims to become a fundamental payment tool in Hong Kong’s regulated on-chain financial system.

Other Perspectives

Under the current system, Hong Kong currently has three note-issuing banks: HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. By juxtaposing the 'history of note issuance' with 'stablecoin licensing,' it becomes clear that the first batch of licenses indeed went to the two strongest credit endorsement lines: HSBC, one of the note-issuing banks, and Ding Point, established and controlled by Standard Chartered, another note-issuing bank.

In this structure, Hong Kong has chosen not to follow the path of 'letting crypto-native institutions run first and regulating later' but instead integrated stablecoins into the upgrading of traditional financial infrastructure. This approach achieves 'screening before expansion' via high thresholds and transforms stablecoins from 'technical products' into 'auditable payment and settlement tools' through clear requirements on reserves, custody, trust, and redemption.

Liu Honglin, founding partner of Kun Law Firm, believes that the market is currently most focused on 'who will receive the first batch of licenses,' but the more critical question is actually 'who will use Hong Kong's stablecoin.' The license addresses who can issue it, but what truly determines success or failure is who will use it, where they will use it, and whether a network effect can be formed.

In the past, the market often imagined Hong Kong's stablecoin as fulfilling cross-border demands for mainland enterprises, individual asset allocation needs, or even acting as a policy buffer. However, given that mainland China already has clear regulatory definitions for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, this chain of demand is not solid. Compliance in Hong Kong does not mean products will naturally flow into the mainland market.

The same holds true when considering overseas markets. Users won't automatically accept a stablecoin just because it 'has a Hong Kong license.' Stablecoin competition is more like payment network competition: whoever has deeper liquidity, connects to more exchanges, wallets, merchants, and protocols, and offers lower transaction friction is more likely to become the default choice. The hardest part for newcomers isn't issuing the coin; it's getting users to change their existing habits.

HSBC and Ding Point may not engage in direct competition

For this reason, the first batch of institutions may not compete head-to-head in the same track. HSBC has made it clear that its Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin will launch in the second half of 2026 and will directly integrate with PayMe and the HSBC HK App. Initial use cases will involve daily payments for retail customers and merchants, including peer-to-peer (P2P), person-to-merchant (P2M), and tokenized investments within the app. With over 3.3 million PayMe users, this means HSBC starts with an established retail payment gateway.

In contrast, Ding Point emphasizes B2B2C distribution, authorized distributors, and incentives for early ecosystem partners, leaning toward building an institutional settlement and cross-border capital flow network first. In other words, Hong Kong’s first batch of stablecoins may not initially compete directly in retail payments but are more likely to divide by channel and use case: one focuses on consumer wallets while the other targets institutional settlements and cross-border flows.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) has confirmed that its Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin will integrate into PayMe and the HSBC Hong Kong mobile banking app, defining initial use cases as everyday transactions for retail customers and merchants (including P2P, P2M, etc.) and tokenized investments within the app.

The practical challenge for Hong Kong Dollar stablecoins: Why would users abandon their existing payment habits?

FromWho will use it?From the perspective of 'who will use it,' this indicates that 'native blockchain users' are not the target audience for the first batch of stablecoin products. Instead, the aim is to embed stablecoins into existing mass payment channels, overcoming the cold start problem through established channels.

Therefore, for local retail stablecoins to truly gain new adoption, they must address a more practical question: what new capabilities do they offer compared to FPS, bank cards, and e-wallets. For instance, can they facilitate programmable payments more conveniently, enable instant settlement with on-chain assets, or significantly reduce costs within specific merchant networks? Otherwise, even with a license, it will be difficult to change payment habits that users have already formed.

This is also why the market landscape is not likely to be rewritten in the short term. According to DeFiLlama data, the total global market capitalization of stablecoins is approximately $318 billion, with USDT accounting for about 58% and USDC around 24%.

The high concentration of stablecoins means that even if a compliant Hong Kong dollar stablecoin emerges, it will be difficult to trigger a shift in default entry points without achieving 'sufficient density of integration' across exchanges, market-making, wallets, and payment and clearing networks.

This point is corroborated by research from the U.S. Federal Reserve. A research bulletin published by the Kansas City Fed on April 10, 2026, indicates that the use cases of stablecoins can be broadly categorized into four types: transactional assets, payments, transfers, and idle holdings. Among these, the proportion genuinely used for payments may only be 0.7%, less than 1%. A larger portion remains circulating within exchanges, DeFi, and infrastructure. In other words, the primary battleground for global stablecoins today is still not 'everyday bill payments' but rather crypto finance itself.

Thus, if a new Hong Kong dollar stablecoin enters the market solely as a 'compliant payment tool,' rapid growth will not be easy. This is because it is not entering a blank market but rather a mature network where user habits, liquidity, and channel access points are largely solidified.

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