Hong Kong Hands Its First Stablecoin Licenses to HSBC and Standard Chartered

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority awarded its first stablecoin licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, chosen from a pool of 36 applicants under the Stablecoins Ordinance.
• The choice of note-issuing banks was deliberate, anchoring Hong Kong’s digital currency regime in institutions that already manage the city’s physical money supply.
• Hong Kong is targeting a role in regional HKD trade settlement, competing in a $300 billion stablecoin market currently dominated by dollar-pegged tokens.

Hong Kong granted its first two stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a Standard Chartered-led joint venture that includes Animoca Brands, on Friday.

The approvals by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the territory’s central bank, mark the first batch under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect in August 2025. The HKMA assessed 36 applications and had signaled that the initial round would be limited. Financial Secretary Paul Chan had said in February that only a small number would be approved, with the regulator prioritising risk management, reserve quality, and anti-money-laundering controls.

HSBC and Standard Chartered are two of only three commercial banks authorised to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes. It is a system that dates to 1846, when private banks began issuing currency backed by silver deposits. By handing the first digital currency licences to the same institutions that issue the city’s physical money, the HKMA is making a clear statement about how it intends to govern this space: cautiously, and through familiar hands.

The Standard Chartered venture, called Anchorpoint Financial, includes Hong Kong Telecommunications and Animoca Brands. Standard Chartered had already participated in the HKMA’s 2024 sandbox program through this consortium. HSBC’s inclusion came as a surprise to some, given that it did not participate in the sandbox. But its sheer size and institutional weight in Hong Kong’s financial system appear to have made it an obvious choice regardless.

ALSO READ: Vietnam Considers Flat 0.1% Tax on Crypto Transactions Under Securities-Style Framework

The licensing framework is among the strictest of its kind. Issuers must fully back all stablecoins in circulation with High Quality Liquid Assets, maintain redemption at face value within one business day, and comply with strict AML and disclosure obligations. Hong Kong is one of the first jurisdictions globally to mandate HQLA-only reserves.

Now, the broader context matters here. The global stablecoin market now stands at roughly $300 billion, dominated almost entirely by USD-pegged tokens, with Citi projecting growth to between $1.9 trillion and $4 trillion by 2030. Hong Kong is betting that regulated, bank-issued HKD stablecoins can carve out a meaningful role in regional trade settlement, issued by the same institutions, under the same constraints, on new rails.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters had previously described the initiative as potentially laying the foundation for a new era of digital trade settlement. Whether Hong Kong’s HKD stablecoin finds real traction in a market overwhelmingly priced in dollars will be the harder test, but Friday’s approvals at least confirm the city is no longer waiting to find out.

Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by the Editorial Team.

Interested in advertising with CIM? Talk to us!