Norman Chan, founder and chairman of RD Technologies.
Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg
RD Technologies, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup founded by the ex-chief executive of the city’s de facto central bank, said on Thursday it raised $7.8 million from investors including billionaire Neil Shen’s venture capital giant HongShan, formerly Sequoia China.
The Series A1 round has also attracted the likes of digital asset-focused funds, including U.S.-based Hivemind Capital Partners; Aptos Labs, a blockchain startup founded by ex-Meta employees who worked on the social media giant’s failed Diem stablecoin project; as well as Solana Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the Solana blockchain network, RD Technologies said in a statement.
The fresh funds will allow RD Technologies to continue building a platform that helps bridge traditional and decentralized finance, it said in a press release. The startup recently expanded into the digital asset space, riding on Hong Kong’s push to become a cryptocurrency hub. Earlier this year, RD Technologies announced plans to issue stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and backed by reserves of cash and cash equivalents.
“The legacy payment industry is ripe to be disrupted using blockchain technology and stablecoins to provide more efficient and cheaper cross-border payment networks,” Rita Liu, CEO of RD Technologies, said in the statement. “We are confident that compliant and transparent stablecoins will invigorate the market and address the pain points of traditional payments and finance to bring in institutions and help Hong Kong become a global Web3 hub.” The former CEO of Alipay’s U.K. unit, Liu joined RD Technologies in 2023 as COO and was promoted to the top job in February this year.
RD Technologies was founded in 2020 by Norman Chan, the ex-chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the former Asia vice chairman of Standard Chartered Bank. The startup has developed a mobile wallet for enterprises, which allows cross-border payment and foreign exchange of multiple fiat currencies. It has previously drawn investments from backers including crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital, Hong Kong crypto unicorn Hashkey Group and ZhongAn Digital Asset, a subsidiary of China’s ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance.
Following its recent crypto venture, RD Technologies in July was admitted to Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s stablecoin trials, which would test the crypto tokens in applications such as cross-border payment and settlement. Joining the regulatory trials are also Jingdong Coinlink Technology Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce behemoth JD.com, as well as a joint venture between Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s telecoms operator HKT, local blockchain gaming unicorn Animoca Brands and Standard Chartered Bank.
The stablecoin market is currency dominated by U.S. dollar-pegged tokens, Tether Operations’ USDT and Circle Internet Financial’s USDC. The tokens hold the promise of stability in face of high volatility in the crypto market, but have instead brought chaos in the past.
The biggest failure was stablecoin variant TerraUSD, which failed to maintain its $1 peg in 2022 and triggered a $60 billion wipeout in the crypto market. Meanwhile, Circle’s USDC stablecoins in 2023 briefly lost its dollar peg after revealing it had $3.3 billion stuck at the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, raising questions about the crypto tokens’ stability.
