Almost a year after the Stablecoins Ordinance came into force, Hong Kong has completed the transition from regulatory theory to market practice: two issuers are licensed, the first regulated Hong Kong dollar stablecoins are set to go live later this year, and the regulator is simultaneously signalling that it is deliberately keeping the pace measured. This article takes stock of where the regime stands – and situates it within the broader monetary policy context that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) itself laid out in early July 2026.
The Regulatory Foundation
The Stablecoins Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council on 21 May 2025 and came into effect on 1 August 2025. Since then, the issuance of fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRS) has been a regulated activity in Hong Kong requiring a licence from the HKMA. Notably, the regime has an extraterritorial reach: a licence is required not only for issuance within Hong Kong, but also for anyone issuing a stablecoin outside Hong Kong that purports to maintain a stable value with reference to the Hong Kong dollar.
The substantive requirements rank among the strictest in the world. Issuers must maintain paid-up capital of at least HK$25 million, back their outstanding tokens at all times with 100 per cent high-quality, highly liquid and fully segregated reserve assets, and grant holders a right of redemption at par value, generally to be processed within one business day. Paying interest to token holders is prohibited, and distribution to the public is restricted to so-called permitted offerors (including licensed virtual asset trading platforms, SVF licensees and authorised institutions). Unlicensed activity carries criminal penalties – fines of up to HK$5 million and up to seven years’ imprisonment.
An interesting point in international comparison: on reserve rules, Hong Kong is in some respects more flexible than Singapore or the United States. Bank deposits with maturities of up to 90 days are permitted, as are government and central bank securities with residual maturities of under one year. In addition, Hong Kong implemented the Basel crypto rules on 1 January 2026 but created a carve-out for authorised Hong Kong stablecoins – a crucial building block enabling banks to act as issuers at all.
The Licensing Round: Two Out of Thirty-Six
By the 30 September 2025 deadline, the HKMA had received 36 applications, after 77 firms had previously signalled interest. On 10 April 2026, the Monetary Authority granted the first two licences: to Anchorpoint Financial Limited (FRS01), a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands, and to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC, FRS02). HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue described the licensing as an important milestone for the development of digital assets in Hong Kong and emphasised the goal of a healthy, responsible and sustainable stablecoin ecosystem.
That both licensees have banking backgrounds is no coincidence: HSBC and Standard Chartered are two of Hong Kong’s three note-issuing banks. The regulator thereby drew a deliberate parallel to the city’s currency board system – full backing, strict supervision, established risk management expertise.
The business plans are concrete. HSBC intends to launch an HKD stablecoin in the second half of 2026, integrated into PayMe and the HSBC HK App, initially for peer-to-peer and merchant payments as well as tokenised investments. Anchorpoint is planning a rollout under the name HKDAP (“HKD At Par”) with a focus on cross-border payments and the settlement of tokenised real-world assets.
Supervisory Practice After the Licensing Round
In a reply to the Legislative Council on 10 June 2026, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui confirmed that the first regulated stablecoins are expected to launch between mid and the second half of 2026. At the same time, it became clear that the HKMA sees no urgency in granting further licences: it wants first to observe the performance of the two inaugural licensees, and is assessing the remaining applications against three criteria – practical use cases that add value to the ecosystem, a robust and sustainable business model, and legal compliance across all relevant jurisdictions.
Enforcement is proceeding in parallel: the HKMA has written to unregulated stablecoin providers setting out the legal requirements and is monitoring their conduct, while the SFC shares intelligence on suspected unlawful marketing to Hong Kong investors. Later this year, a bill is also expected that will comprehensively regulate the trading, custody, advisory and management of virtual assets. In the interim, the HKMA warned (press release of 28 April 2026) against tokens falsely purported to be associated with the licensees – at that point, neither had issued any regulated stablecoins.
The Strategic Context: July 2026
How seriously Hong Kong takes its role as a digital finance and currency hub is illustrated by the most recent primary source: on 7 July 2026, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue commented in an official statement on the eleven new measures announced by PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng at the Hong Kong FIC & Bond Connect Summit. These include raising the Southbound Bond Connect annual quota to RMB800 billion, expanding the HKMA’s RMB Business Facility from RMB200 billion to RMB500 billion effective 10 July 2026, and new instruments for offshore RMB liquidity.
Stablecoins are not directly addressed in the statement – and that in itself is telling. The measures show that Hong Kong’s digital asset and stablecoin strategy is embedded in a broader architecture: the city as an offshore RMB hub and international fixed income centre. Regulated HKD stablecoins are one building block of this infrastructure, not an isolated crypto project. The context also explains Beijing’s reticence towards RMB-referenced stablecoins: capital controls and sovereignty over payment flows remain red lines, as the debate over offshore RMB stablecoins since 2025 has shown.
Assessment and Outlook
With its two-licence launch, Hong Kong has deliberately opted against a broad market-opening model. The calculus: better a small number of bank-backed issuers with real use cases than speculative sprawl – a lesson drawn in part from the market overheating in the summer of 2025, when mere stablecoin announcements by listed companies triggered share price explosions and prompted a joint warning statement from the HKMA and the SFC.
Three milestones will matter over the coming months: first, the actual market launch of the HSBC and Anchorpoint tokens and their adoption in payment and tokenisation use cases; second, the decision on further licences, which will hinge largely on the pioneers’ performance; and third, the announced legislative package for virtual asset service providers, intended to complete the framework. Hong Kong is thus running one of the world’s most advanced real-world tests of whether strictly regulated, bank-backed stablecoins can genuinely resolve friction points in payments and tokenisation – or whether the regulatory burden will consume the innovation dividend.
Sources
Primary sources (HKMA / HKSAR Government):
- HKMA, Statement by Chief Executive Eddie Yue on the new measures announced by PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng, 7 July 2026 (primary source, July 2026) – https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/speeches/2026/07/20260707-1/
- HKSAR Government, LCQ6: Development and regulation of stablecoins (reply by Secretary Christopher Hui to the Legislative Council), 10 June 2026 – https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202606/10/P2026061000429.htm
- HKMA, press release “Granting of stablecoin issuer licences”, 10 April 2026 – https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/04/20260410-4/
- HKMA, inSight article by Eddie Yue, “Robust development of the regulated stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong”, 10 April 2026 – https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/insight/2026/04/20260410/
- HKMA, press release “Beware of tokens purported to be associated with licensed stablecoin issuers”, 28 April 2026 – https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/04/20260428-5/
- HKSAR Government, press release “Implementation of regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers”, 29 July 2025 – https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202507/29/P2025072900703.htm
- HKMA, topic page “Regulatory Regime for Stablecoin Issuers” (last revised 10 April 2026) – https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/international-financial-centre/stablecoin-issuers/
- HSBC, press release “HSBC welcomes HKMA’s grant of a Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licence”, 10 April 2026 – https://www.about.hsbc.com.hk/news-and-media/hsbc-welcomes-hkmas-grant-of-a-hong-kong-stablecoin-issuer-licence
Secondary sources (selection):
- Davis Polk, client update on the Stablecoins Ordinance, August 2025 – https://www.davispolk.com/insights/client-update/hong-kong-s-licensing-and-regulatory-framework-stablecoins-now-effect
- Sidley Austin, “Hong Kong Implements New Regulatory Framework for Stablecoins”, 2025 – https://www.sidley.com/en/insights/newsupdates/2025/08/hong-kong-implements-new-regulatory-framework-for-stablecoins
- Ledger Insights, “First Hong Kong stablecoin issuers are HSBC, StanChart JV Anchorpoint Financial”, April 2026 – https://www.ledgerinsights.com/first-hong-kong-stablecoin-issuers-are-hsbc-stanchart-jv-anchorpoint-financial/
- The Block, “HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial gain first Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licenses”, April 2026 – https://www.theblock.co/post/396990/hsbc-and-anchorpoint-financial-gain-first-hong-kong-stablecoin-issuer-licenses
- crypto.news, “Hong Kong reveals when its first regulated stablecoins could launch”, June 2026 – https://crypto.news/hong-kong-reveals-when-its-first-regulated-stablecoins-could-launch/
Note on sourcing: as of 12 July 2026, no stablecoin-specific HKMA press release from July 2026 exists. The month’s most recent relevant primary source is the statement of 7 July 2026 cited above, which sets out the monetary policy framework (offshore RMB, Bond Connect) within which the stablecoin regime operates.