Of 36 applications assessed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), only two made the cut: HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial Limited received Hong Kong's inaugural stablecoin issuer licences on 10 April 2026, and commercial launches are now expected before the year is out. HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue put it plainly in April: "We expect regulated stablecoins in Hong Kong to be launched in mid to second half of this year."
From Ordinance to Licence in Eight Months
Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance entered force in August 2025, setting a deadline of 30 September 2025 for formal licence applications. The HKMA reviewed 36 submissions and, in the first batch, awarded just two — FRS01 to Anchorpoint Financial and FRS02 to HSBC. Financial Secretary Paul Chan had signalled in February 2026 that the initial cohort would be "deliberately limited," a phrase that proved literal. Both licences were effective from the date of announcement.
Anchorpoint is a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT Limited, and Animoca Brands. Its stablecoin, HKDAP (HKD At Par), targets institutional and B2B2C use cases anchored in real-world asset settlement. Anchorpoint intends to leverage authorised distributor networks and incentivise early adoption partners, but has not given a specific date for HKDAP's public availability. Fintech News HK reported that Anchorpoint may consider retail usage at a later stage, with the initial focus squarely on institutional clients.
HSBC's Retail Play via PayMe
HSBC's approach is consumer-facing. The bank plans to integrate its HKD stablecoin with PayMe — which carries over 3.3 million users, per HSBC's own figures — as well as its mobile banking app. Initial use cases cover peer-to-peer transfers, peer-to-merchant payments, and tokenised investment subscriptions. The stablecoin will be fully backed by high-quality liquid assets held in segregated accounts, consistent with the Ordinance's reserve requirements. Maggie Ng, CEO Hong Kong at HSBC, said the bank was "delighted" to receive the licence, describing it as a "pioneering regulatory regime" that will allow HSBC-issued stablecoins to be used safely for payments and transactions. The real test will be whether consumers adopt a stablecoin wallet where traditional bank transfer already works well.
Strict KYC and a Travel Rule With Teeth
Hong Kong's framework is among the tightest globally for digital money. Every stablecoin holder must be identity-verified — anonymous or pseudonymous wallets are prohibited. The travel rule applies to all transfers regardless of value; above HK$8,000 (approximately US$1,000), issuers must collect and transmit full verified originator information — name, account number, address, and identity document — in real time, before or simultaneously with the transfer. Transfers below that threshold require basic identification but not full verification, unless linked transactions aggregate above the threshold or suspicious activity is flagged.
In practice, licensed issuers are expected to embed these compliance checks directly into smart-contract logic, restricting transfers to whitelisted, verified wallets. The design effectively makes HKD stablecoins permissioned instruments rather than bearer assets.
Project Ensemble Moves to Live Transactions
Alongside the stablecoin licensing track, the HKMA is advancing Project Ensemble — its tokenised-asset settlement initiative — into a live pilot phase called EnsembleTX, running through 2026. The programme allows participating banks to settle tokenised deposits and digital assets on a delivery-versus-payment basis. The longer-term goal is to upgrade the pilot infrastructure to support settlement in tokenised central bank money, enabling 24/7 continuous settlement — a meaningful shift from Hong Kong's current RTGS operating hours. Howard Lee, HKMA Deputy Chief Executive, told the Hong Kong Digital Finance Summit on 31 May that the two licensed issuers plan stablecoins covering cross-border and local payments, tokenised asset trading, and other applications, framing regulated digital money as a system built on institutional soundness rather than technology alone.
Regional Pressure Builds
Hong Kong is the first major Asian financial centre to grant stablecoin licences to note-issuing commercial banks. HSBC and Standard Chartered are two of only three banks authorised to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes — their involvement lends a sovereign-adjacent credibility that pure crypto issuers cannot replicate. Singapore's MAS has published its stablecoin framework but has not yet licensed bank-backed issuers at this scale. Japan and the UAE have their own parallel tracks. The competitive clock is running: once HSBC's PayMe-integrated stablecoin is live and transacting at retail scale, the argument for delay elsewhere weakens considerably.
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