Overview
- HKMA approved HSBC and Anchorpoint on Friday under the Stablecoins Ordinance, issuing the city’s first stablecoin licences with immediate effect.
- The framework mandates one‑to‑one high‑quality HKD reserves, segregated assets, clear redemption paths, and minimum buffers of HK$25 million in paid‑up capital and HK$3 million in liquid assets, with fines and prison terms for unlicensed issuance.
- Licensed coins can move only between wallets tied to verified identities, and the travel rule applies to transfers above HK$8,000, which forces detailed sender and recipient information to accompany larger payments.
- Anchorpoint plans a phased launch of its HKD‑pegged HKDAP from Q2 2026 with full reserve backing, while HSBC says its token will be available through PayMe and the HSBC HK Mobile Banking app for person‑to‑person and merchant payments.
- Regulators reviewed 36 applications and signalled only a very limited number of further licences, prioritizing note‑issuing banks to support payments, tokenized settlement, and cross‑border use under tight AML and compliance controls.