HSBC and a joint venture led by Standard Chartered are expected to be among the first companies to obtain Hong Kong’s stablecoin licences within two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The number of licences and timetable had yet to be finalised and remained subject to change, but sources said a possible date…
A stablecoin logo displayed on a smartphone. – McDonnell // Shutterstock If you’ve ever sent money through Western Union, paid with a Visa card while traveling, or waited days for an electronic payment to settle, you’ve already used the systems known as “payment rails” that move money globally between friends, families and businesses. Now, banks…
Hong Kong authorities are moving toward issuing the city’s first stablecoin licenses, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority targeting March for an initial round. Market expectations, however, have been carefully managed. Based on regulatory signals and industry briefings, the first batch is widely expected to be limited, likely to no more than three to five…
When Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan addressed stablecoins at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, the significance of his remarks lay not in grand ambition but in their restraint. There were no sweeping claims about reshaping global finance, nor statements framing stablecoins as a challenge to existing monetary systems. Instead, Chan outlined something…
Hong Kong’s finance chief has promoted the city’s regulatory regime for digital assets as “responsible and sustainable” at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Delivering opening remarks at a closed-door workshop on Tuesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said finance and technology were “mutually reinforcing”, but a balanced approach was needed to support their…
The initial public offering (IPO) of HashKey Holdings, operator of Hong Kong’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, lays bare challenges faced by local platforms under Beijing’s watchful eye, even though the listing itself was recognition of the growing influence of digital assets in the city, according to analysts. HashKey, established in Hong Kong in 2018, on Monday…
Hong Kong’s connectivity and talent pool could help facilitate international legal and economic collaboration, the justice minister and an expert have said, as they joined representatives from more than 25 jurisdictions this week at an annual forum in the city. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the five-day Hong Kong Legal Week forum on Monday,…
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) cautioned investors that no stablecoins pegged to the offshore yuan had been approved for issuance in the city, as regulators sought to temper the frenzy surrounding digital assets. In a statement published on WeChat on Wednesday, the HKMA refuted claims circulating on social media that the first offshore yuan-pegged…
Eric Trump, the American president’s second son, has been called “the top diplomat of the bitcoin nation”. Last month his mission took him to the People’s Republic of China, where he spoke in Hong Kong at Bitcoin Asia, a conference dedicated to the original cryptocurrency. What is it trading at today, he asked, while on…
Yunfeng Financial Group, backed by Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma, said it was investing in the cryptocurrency ether as part of its reserve assets, as the company expands into Web3 amid Hong Kong’s digital asset initiative. To date, Hong Kong-listed Yunfeng has invested US$44 million to acquire 10,000 ether for its “strategic reserve”, according…