HKD stablecoin “big retreat”: 36 applicants, only 2 left
Source: Foresight News Author: Joe Zhou Original title: The Hong Kong Dollar Stablecoin “Great Retreat” is strategically negative and tactically aggressive. The participants in the HKD stablecoin are waiting for a reason to get them excited. “We are not optimistic about the HKD stablecoin.” An industry insider close to the regulatory level said bluntly to the author, “Being optimistic about stablecoins does not mean being optimistic about Hong Kong dollar stablecoins — these are two completely different things.” He paused and added: “Let the least willing and least motivated institutions dominate the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin and marginalize the most motivated and thoughtful institutions. How can this be done?” This is not personal prejudice. I learned from many participants in the Hong Kong stablecoin business that the ownership of the first two Hong Kong dollar stablecoin licenses already reflects the embarrassment of “passive defense” supervision: Standard Chartered Bank-led Anchoring Fintech Co., Ltd. took the initiative, while the other licensed institution “didn't want to do it at all” — this is already an open secret in the community. At the same time, companies with strong intentions to explore the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin scenario, such as Ant Group, JD Technology, and Yuancoin Technology, have failed to actually enter the market or have no core dominance. “Engaged, but not optimistic.” Two people from different institutions, both close to the Hong Kong stablecoin business, spoke almost in unison. Currently, the situation of Hong Kong dollar stablecoins is showing three subtle patterns: one type of institution is optimistic about the stablecoin circuit but has reservations about the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, but they have to “take their place”; another type of institution is not enthusiastic about stablecoins and is being forced to enter the market by regulation; there is also a category of institutions that have the will, resources, and scenarios, but are turned away because of their status. This misalignment is the most realistic footnote to the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin's “Great Retreat”. One license, two attitudes, three positive reactions for Standard Chartered, negative for HSBC — one license, two attitudes. In September 2025, 36 institutions flocked to apply for a HKD stablecoin license, which was very exciting. Nearly a year has passed, and today in August 2026, few people have taken the initiative to mention the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin. The hustle and bustle has receded, and there are only two real players left: Standard Chartered and HSBC. A brand-new business model was eventually completely handed over to organizations that are mainly engaged in traditional business models. Market sentiment is as cold as ice. “Everyone in the community knows that HSBC is not active.” Two people from different Hong Kong licensed crypto exchanges invariably told the author. On 10 April 2026, the HKMA issued the first batch of two HKD stablecoin licenses to Anchorage Financial Technology Co., Ltd. (Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Telecom and Animoca Brands) and Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. However, according to industry sources, the two institutions have very different attitudes towards stablecoins. Standard Chartered has shown some initiative and has begun to lay out a global stablecoin strategy. On July 2, 2026, Standard Chartered and USDC issuer Circle jointly announced the launch of an institutional-grade USDC one-stop access service. On August 12, 2026, Anchorage Financial launched the first phase of the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDAP. Currently, it is only open to institutional distributors and professional investors such as HashKey and OSL, and plans to expand to retail users as early as the end of 2026 depending on market conditions. HSBC is a different story. “HSBC is passive; they only do it when they are pointed at their nose.” An industry insider spoke bluntly to the author. Compared with Standard Chartered's aggressive promotion, HSBC's Hong Kong dollar stablecoin program is clearly behind schedule until the second half of 2026. Behind this delay is HSBC's careful consideration of the stablecoin business based on real interests. “HSBC is more inclined to implement tokenized deposits rather than stablecoins.” A person close to HSBC revealed. The root cause is that stablecoins directly conflict with HSBC's main business. According to the data, about 85% of HSBC's payment business revenue comes from net interest income based on deposits, and the payments business itself accounted for about 22% of its total revenue in 2025. HSBC's core business model is to absorb low-cost deposits and earn interest spreads through loans and investments — and stablecoin issuance just diverts bank deposits and shakes its foundation. What's more, the business of issuing compliant stablecoins itself is far from being “profiteering”: revenue is highly dependent on the interest rate environment, yet profits are being encroached upon by various channels such as issuance, hosting, and distribution. For HSBC, which has deposit and loan spreads as the core and holds a large number of customer deposits, active all in stablecoins not only erodes its deposit base, but also does not earn significant profits, and lacks internal commercial driving force. In addition to Standard Chartered and HSBC, the reaction of 13 licensed crypto exchanges to the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin was also mixed...