Hong Kong's Landmark Stablecoin Licenses: How HSBC and Standard Chartered-Led Anchorpoint Are Rewiring Asian Finance

Hong Kong just made history by licensing the world's first TradFi-backed, fully regulated HKD stablecoins — and the institutions holding those licenses control over $3 trillion in combined assets.

Executive Summary

• Two of 36 applicants cleared the HKMA's inaugural licensing round on April 10, 2026: HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial Limited (Standard Chartered / HKT / Animoca Brands JV), making Hong Kong the first major jurisdiction to grant live, regulated stablecoin licenses to systemically important financial institutions.

• HKDAP (HKD At Par) from Anchorpoint is targeting a Q2 2026 launch with a B2B2C distribution model, while HSBC will integrate its HKD stablecoin into PayMe and the HSBC HK mobile banking app in H2 2026, covering millions of existing retail customers.

• The licensing event arrives simultaneously with the US GENIUS Act advancing in Congress and MiCA fully active in Europe, creating what analysts at PANews call a "historic triple play" — the first moment in history where three major financial blocs have concurrent, substantive stablecoin regulatory frameworks.

• The HKMA's exceptionally high bar — only a 5.6% approval rate from applicants — means the HKD stablecoin market will be heavily concentrated, creating systemic inter-dependence between issuers and the HKMA that constrains agility and introduces single-point-of-failure risk in the event of a bank run or operational failure.

• The integration of Animoca Brands into Anchorpoint's shareholder structure positions HKDAP as a rare stablecoin with a designed-in DeFi/gaming/RWA distribution gateway, a strategic asymmetry absent from HSBC's more conservative retail-first rollout.

Background & Market Context

The global stablecoin market has ballooned to over $230 billion in total circulation as of early 2026, dominated almost entirely by USD-denominated instruments — principally Tether's USDT ($145B) and Circle's USDC ($55B). Despite the outsized role Hong Kong plays in global cross-border capital flows, trade finance, and renminbi internationalisation, there has been no significant regulated HKD-denominated stablecoin to date. This asymmetry has become increasingly costly: HKD-denominated digital settlement instruments remain paper-thin, while USD stablecoins handle the overwhelming majority of on-chain settlement activity across Asian DeFi markets, trade finance rails, and tokenized asset platforms.

The HKMA had been telegraphing its ambitions since at least 2022, when it issued a discussion paper on stablecoin regulation. The regulatory posture hardened through 2023 with publication of a conclusions paper and announcement of a formal sandbox scheme. The pace accelerated dramatically in 2024 and 2025 as the geopolitical incentives sharpened: rising US-China trade tensions, Washington's aggressive use of dollar-denominated financial infrastructure as a sanctions lever, and Beijing's quiet endorsement of Hong Kong as a "controlled experiment" in digital asset liberalization all aligned behind the case for a regulated, HKD-native stablecoin that could reduce dependence on USD settlement rails without requiring issuers to operate offshore or in regulatory grey zones.

The Stablecoins Ordinance came into force on August 1, 2025, creating Hong Kong's formal licensing regime. It requires issuers to maintain 1:1 fiat-backed reserves (cash, bank deposits, marketable debt securities with high credit quality, reverse repos, or qualifying investment funds), meet minimum capital thresholds, implement rigorous AML/KYC protocols including blockchain analytics, and submit to ongoing HKMA examination. The law also introduced a "public register" of licensed issuers and explicit penalties for unlicensed activity — a direct response to the proliferation of unregulated stablecoin products targeting Hong Kong users via offshore vehicles. With 36 applications submitted over the following months and only 2 licenses issued in the inaugural round announced April 10, 2026, the HKMA has signaled that this market will be defined by rigor, not scale.

The macro backdrop could scarcely be more favorable for institutional HKD stablecoins. Hong Kong processed approximately HKD 42 trillion ($5.4 trillion) in payments through its RTGS system in 2024. Cross-border remittances, particularly into Greater China and Southeast Asia, remain expensive and slow compared to on-chain alternatives. The city's asset management industry manages over $4 trillion in AUM, a significant portion of which is being actively tokenized through HKMA's Project Ensemble and its associated sandbox. Each of these vectors — retail payments, cross-border settlement, tokenized asset transactions — requires a regulated, liquid, and widely accepted HKD-denominated digital settlement instrument that did not exist until now.

Key Developments

Early 2023 — Genesis of the Anchorpoint Consortium Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK), HKT (Hong Kong's dominant telecom company and operator of the Tap & Go payment wallet), and Animoca Brands — the digital entertainment and Web3 firm with investments across 400+ blockchain companies — began formally exploring the issuance of an HKD-backed stablecoin. The combination was unusual: a major British multinational bank, a telco with deep retail payment infrastructure, and a firm synonymous with NFTs, gaming tokens, and DeFi native products. The pairing of TradFi credibility with Web3 distribution networks would prove to be the consortium's defining strategic logic.

July 2024 — Admission to the HKMA Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox The SCBHK/HKT/Animoca consortium, alongside four other participants, was officially admitted to the HKMA's Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox. This was the first formal signal from the regulator that the consortium's model passed initial scrutiny. The sandbox allowed participants to test reserve management mechanics, redemption procedures, AML/KYC workflows, and blockchain analytics integrations in a supervised environment without being subject to the full Ordinance — a standard HKMA "regulatory laboratory" approach.

August 1, 2025 — Stablecoins Ordinance Takes Effect Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance entered into force, creating the world's first comprehensive licensing framework for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers by a Tier 1 financial regulator. The Ordinance requires full licensing for any entity issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong or marketing them to Hong Kong residents, with criminal penalties for unlicensed activity. Applications formally opened, drawing 36 submissions — a figure the HKMA later described as representing a broad cross-section of financial institutions, FinTechs, and crypto-native firms.

February 2025 — Anchorpoint Financial Limited Formally Established The JV entity Anchorpoint Financial Limited was incorporated in Hong Kong as a formal subsidiary of SCBHK, with equity participation from HKT and Animoca Brands. Dominic Maffei was appointed as CEO. The formal establishment represented a step-change from exploratory discussions to a fully capitalized, regulated vehicle preparing for license application submission.

April 1, 2026 — CoinDesk Reports Delay Past March Target The HKMA had indicated informally through late 2025 that its inaugural licensing round could complete in March 2026. The deadline passed without announcement, with CoinDesk reporting that "Hong Kong hasn't issued a single HKD stablecoin license after March target" — a development that briefly dented sentiment among applicants and ecosystem developers. HKMA sources indicated extended due diligence on reserve management frameworks was causing the delay, not any concerns about the quality of applications.

April 10, 2026 — HKMA Issues Inaugural Stablecoin Licenses At approximately 9:00 HKT, the HKMA published its official press release confirming two stablecoin issuer licenses under the Stablecoins Ordinance: Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC). HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue stated: "The granting of stablecoin issuer licences is an important milestone for digital assets in Hong Kong." The 34 unsuccessful applicants were not named. The HKMA simultaneously launched its public Register of Licensed Stablecoin Issuers and issued a consumer protection advisory warning against acquiring stablecoins from unlicensed issuers.

Technical Analysis

HKDAP (HKD At Par) — Anchorpoint's Architecture Anchorpoint's HKDAP is designed around a B2B2C distribution model, which represents a deliberate departure from the direct-to-consumer model employed by USD stablecoins like USDC. Rather than issuing directly to retail users, Anchorpoint will work with "authorized distributors" — banks, payment companies, DeFi protocols, and enterprise clients — who then interface with end users. This structure reduces Anchorpoint's KYC/AML surface area while allowing distributors to customize the user experience and embed HKDAP within their own applications. Animoca Brands' portfolio of 400+ Web3 companies represents the most immediately actionable set of potential distributors, providing an instant distribution network across gaming, NFT marketplaces, DeFi protocols, and blockchain infrastructure.

Reserve management for HKDAP will follow HKMA's approved asset classes: cash holdings at licensed banks, highly rated marketable debt securities (including Hong Kong government bonds), reverse repurchase agreements, and qualifying money market funds. All reserve assets are held in segregated accounts, meaning HKDAP holders have a ring-fenced claim on reserves that cannot be commingled with Anchorpoint's operating funds or SCBHK's balance sheet. This segregation requirement — stricter than either MiCA or the proposed GENIUS Act on this dimension — is one of the HKMA's most consequential design decisions, as it directly limits contagion risk.

The on-chain implementation details for HKDAP have not been fully disclosed, but the involvement of Animoca Brands — which has deep ties to the Kaia Chain (formerly Klaytn/Finschia, a Layer 1 with major South Korean institutional backing) and multiple EVM-compatible ecosystems — suggests a multi-chain deployment strategy. This is consistent with Anchorpoint's stated focus on "tokenized asset settlement, cross-border capital flows, and real-world applications," all of which typically require cross-chain interoperability. The technical challenge will be maintaining consistent AML/KYC controls across multiple settlement layers — a problem that blockchain analytics tools from Chainalysis and Elliptic (both HKMA-approved vendors) are currently addressing.

HSBC's Retail Integration Model HSBC is pursuing a diametrically different architecture: deep integration into existing consumer banking infrastructure. PayMe, HSBC's peer-to-peer payment application, had approximately 3 million active users in Hong Kong as of 2024, making it the dominant mobile payment platform in the city. HSBC's HK Mobile Banking App serves the bank's approximately 4 million Hong Kong retail customers. By deploying the HKD stablecoin as a feature within these existing applications, HSBC can leverage already-KYC'd user bases and established trust relationships to achieve rapid adoption without requiring users to understand or interact with any blockchain layer directly. The planned use cases include P2P transfers, peer-to-merchant payments, and subscription to tokenized investment products — effectively making HSBC's stablecoin a programmable dollar account within an app users already use daily.

The reserve framework for HSBC's stablecoin is described as "high-quality liquid assets held in segregated accounts," language that maps precisely to the HKMA's required reserve tier: Hong Kong government bonds, Exchange Fund Bills, and cash at the HKMA itself. HSBC's status as one of the three Hong Kong banknote issuers (alongside Standard Chartered and Bank of China HK) gives it an institutional relationship with the HKMA and a reserve management operation that has been audited and regulated for over a century, materially reducing the operational ramp-up required compared to a new entrant.

Regulatory Design Principles Eddie Yue's accompanying insight piece articulated four HKMA-endorsed use cases: cross-border payments, local payments, tokenized asset trading, and innovative applications (conditional payments, supply chain financing). The framework explicitly adopts a "same activity, same risks, same regulation" philosophy — meaning stablecoin issuers face standards comparable to authorized institutions performing equivalent functions, rather than a lighter-touch FinTech regime. Technology risk management, AML protocol sophistication (including blockchain transaction monitoring), and redemption procedure robustness were described as the three primary differentiators separating the two successful applicants from the 34 unsuccessful ones.

flowchart TD
    A[HKMA Stablecoins Ordinance\nAug 1, 2025] --> B{36 Applications\nAssessed}
    B --> C[HSBC\nLicensed Apr 10, 2026]
    B --> D[Anchorpoint Financial\nLicensed Apr 10, 2026]
    B --> E[34 Rejected\nApplicants]

    C --> F[HSBC HKD Stablecoin\nH2 2026 Launch]
    F --> G[PayMe\n~3M users]
    F --> H[HSBC HK Mobile App\n~4M customers]
    F --> I[Tokenized Investment\nSubscriptions]

    D --> J[HKDAP - HKD At Par\nQ2 2026 Launch]
    J --> K[Standard Chartered\nEnterprise Clients]
    J --> L[HKT / Tap & Go\nRetail Payments]
    J --> M[Animoca Brands\n400+ Web3 Portfolio]
    M --> N[Gaming / NFT\nPlatforms]
    M --> O[DeFi Protocols\nKaia Chain / EVM]

    C & D --> P[HKMA Public Register\nOf Licensed Issuers]
    C & D --> Q[Reserve Assets\nSegregated Accounts]
    Q --> R[HK Gov Bonds\nExchange Fund Bills\nCash at HKMA\nMMFs / Repos]

On-Chain & Market Data

The most striking data point in the above table is the juxtaposition between the $230 billion global stablecoin market and the $0 existing regulated HKD stablecoin supply. This void is not a sign of low demand but of regulatory lag — the HKD is among the world's most widely traded currencies, and Hong Kong's role as a gateway between mainland Chinese capital and global financial markets creates enormous latent demand for a stable, programmable, regulatorily-clean digital settlement instrument. The question is not whether HKDAP and HSBC's stablecoin will find demand; it is how quickly they can capture a meaningful share of the HKD-denominated payment and settlement flows that currently traverse legacy correspondent banking rails.

The 5.6% approval rate from the HKMA's 36-application pool is also significant market data. It tells us that the regulatory bar is being set at a level that excludes crypto-native and FinTech-only applicants who lack the reserve management operations, compliance infrastructure, and institutional credibility of a Standard Chartered or HSBC. This is a deliberate policy choice: Hong Kong is not building a permissionless stablecoin market but a tightly regulated, institutionally-anchored one. The near-term HKD stablecoin market will therefore look like an oligopoly — which maximizes regulatory control but limits the competitive pressure that has driven down fees and driven up innovation in the USD stablecoin market.

Competitive Landscape

USDT / Tether — The Incumbent Shadow Tether's USDT remains the dominant stablecoin used for Asia-Pacific transactions, including substantial Hong Kong-related flows, despite Tether having no formal regulatory license in any major jurisdiction. USDT's network effects — deep liquidity on every major exchange, near-universal acceptance across DeFi protocols, and embedded use in gray-market and informal capital transfer corridors connecting mainland China to offshore markets — are formidable. HKDAP and HSBC's stablecoin will not displace USDT in these use cases in the near term. However, the regulatory clarity attached to HKMA-licensed instruments makes them compelling for institutional settlement, tokenized securities transactions, and corporate treasury management — contexts where Tether's opacity and lack of regulatory standing is a disqualifying risk factor.

USDC / Circle — The Regulated USD Competitor Circle has spent considerable resources building its regulatory standing, including a MiCA-compliant EU entity and a strong NYDFS relationship in the US. USDC is the preferred instrument for institutional DeFi, RWA tokenization platforms, and regulated finance applications globally. HKDAP will compete directly with USDC in tokenized asset settlement contexts — but has the significant advantage of eliminating currency conversion risk for HKD-denominated asset classes. As Hong Kong's RWA tokenization ecosystem (project Ensemble sandbox) scales, the preference for a regulated HKD-native stablecoin over USDC for settlement will increase proportionately with the volume of HKD-denominated tokenized assets.

Mbridge / mCBDC Rails — The State-Backed Alternative The Bank for International Settlements' mBridge project — a multi-central-bank digital currency platform involving HKMA, the People's Bank of China, the Bank of Thailand, and the Central Bank of the UAE — is the primary alternative settlement infrastructure for cross-border transactions in the region. mBridge is not a competitor but a complement: it operates at the interbank layer, while HKDAP and HSBC's stablecoin operate at the commercial and retail layers. However, if mBridge scales rapidly and HKMA decides to position it as the preferred wholesale settlement mechanism, commercial stablecoin issuers could find their cross-border use case (the highest-value application) partially or fully cannibalized. The relationship between mBridge and commercial stablecoins will be one of the defining regulatory dynamics to watch.

MiCA-Compliant EUR Stablecoins — The European Precedent Since MiCA's full application in June 2024, several EUR-denominated stablecoins have received Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licenses in EU member states — primarily from firms like Société Générale's Forge unit (EURCV) and Banking Circle. These represent the most directly analogous precedent for what HKMA-licensed HKD stablecoins might look like in two years. The European experience suggests that MiCA compliance was achievable by major institutions but created a significant compliance cost burden that deterred smaller players — consistent with HKMA's similar outcome. EURCV and competing EUR stablecoins have not yet achieved mass adoption, partly because the EUR stablecoin use case (settlement within an already-integrated eurozone financial system) is structurally weaker than the HKD case (gateway currency between major regulatory/currency zones).

Stakeholder Analysis

Institutional Investors and Asset Managers The primary near-term beneficiary class is Hong Kong's asset management community. Tokenized funds, tokenized bonds (the HKMA has already issued multiple digital green bonds), and real-world asset platforms all require a regulated on-chain settlement currency. With HKDAP and HSBC's stablecoin now licensed, the final missing piece of the tokenized finance stack in Hong Kong is in place. Fund managers running tokenized money market funds, tokenized equity structures, or blockchain-based secondary market platforms for private assets can now settle in a fully compliant HKD instrument without relying on USD stablecoins with unresolved cross-jurisdictional regulatory standing.

Retail Users The 3 million PayMe users and 4 million HSBC HK mobile banking customers represent the immediate retail addressable market. For these users, the HSBC stablecoin will initially present as a feature upgrade within an existing app — faster settlement, programmable payments, access to tokenized investment products — rather than as a new product requiring new behavior. The Tap & Go wallet operated by HKT, which distributes HKDAP, reaches a similarly broad retail base through Hong Kong's ubiquitous Octopus card infrastructure and telco billing relationships. However, retail users face a risk of confusion between licensed and unlicensed HKD-denominated digital assets, a concern the HKMA explicitly flagged in its consumer advisory, and one that will require ongoing public education.

DeFi Developers and Web3 Builders Animoca Brands' structural integration into Anchorpoint is the single most significant signal for the DeFi and Web3 developer community. Animoca's portfolio of 400+ companies spans NFT marketplaces (OpenSea investor), blockchain gaming studios, DeFi protocols, and infrastructure providers — and all of them now have a direct channel to integrate a regulated HKD stablecoin with Anchorpoint likely acting as the preferred stablecoin counterparty for ecosystem initiatives. For builders on Kaia Chain, EVM-compatible protocols, or any platform with a significant Hong Kong user base, HKDAP's availability removes a key compliance risk from HKD-denominated transactions. This is a structural change for the regional DeFi ecosystem.

Regulators (Global) The HKMA's decision has immediate implications for peer regulators. The MAS in Singapore — which has been pursuing a parallel stablecoin framework — faces competitive pressure to accelerate its own licensing decisions to avoid Hong Kong establishing a dominant first-mover position in regulated Asian stablecoin infrastructure. US regulators face the GENIUS Act's pending Senate vote against a backdrop where a major US ally has already moved to market. For Beijing, the licensing decision represents validation of the "one country, two systems" financial liberalization model at a moment when the US-China trade war has elevated the strategic value of non-dollar settlement infrastructure.

Risk Assessment

1. Reserve Concentration and Liquidity Risk — Both licensed issuers will hold reserves in HKMA-approved assets, but Hong Kong's dollar peg to the USD means HKD reserves are ultimately exposed to Fed policy and USD liquidity conditions. A sudden de-pegging scenario — however improbable — or a significant rise in redemption volume during a market stress event could test the segregated reserve framework. Severity: HIGH. Probability: LOW (near-term), MODERATE (5-year horizon given USD/HK peg political dynamics).

2. Oligopoly Market Structure and Innovation Deficit — With only 2 licenses issued from 36 applications, and the HKMA signaling continued "high standards," the HKD stablecoin market is effectively a regulated duopoly. Lack of competitive pressure may slow fee reduction and feature innovation compared to unregulated or more permissive markets. It may also create systemic exposure: if either issuer faces operational, reputational, or financial difficulties, the entire regulated HKD stablecoin market contracts. Severity: MODERATE. Probability: HIGH (structural, not event-driven).

3. Cross-Jurisdictional Regulatory Fragmentation — While MiCA, GENIUS Act, and HKMA frameworks share core principles, differences in reserve asset requirements, redemption timelines, and consumer protection standards create compliance friction for issuers seeking to operate globally. HKDAP's cross-border ambitions (tokenized assets, cross-border capital flows) will require careful navigation of MiCA's stricter reserve requirements and the US GENIUS Act's Treasury-heavy reserve mandate when operating in those jurisdictions. Severity: MODERATE. Probability: HIGH (ongoing, increases as issuers scale).

4. Geopolitical and Sanctions Risk — Hong Kong's unique regulatory status makes it a target for secondary sanctions risk as US-China tensions evolve. Standard Chartered has historically faced US enforcement actions related to sanctions violations, and Animoca Brands has a significant mainland Chinese shareholder base (Yat Siu has been vocal about the firm's PRC investor relationships). An HKDAP designed for cross-border flows touching sanctioned jurisdictions would create acute legal exposure for all parties. The HKMA's AML/blockchain analytics requirements provide some protection, but do not eliminate geopolitical risk. Severity: HIGH. Probability: MODERATE.

Investment & Strategic Implications

For institutional funds with exposure to Hong Kong financial infrastructure, the licensing decision is a structural positive — not a speculative catalyst. The correct framing is not "will HKDAP appreciate in value?" (it is pegged 1:1 to HKD) but "which entities in the HKD stablecoin stack will capture economic value?" The answer lies in three places: (1) Anchorpoint's reserve float income — with HKD interest rates currently around 4–5%, a $1 billion stablecoin float generates $40–50 million in annual interest revenue on assets held in Exchange Fund Bills and government bonds, with minimal operating overhead; (2) transaction fee income from the B2B2C distribution network, particularly for high-velocity use cases like cross-border remittances and on-chain asset settlement; (3) the equity value of platform positions — Animoca Brands' shareholding in Anchorpoint creates a direct financial link between HKDAP's success and Animoca's balance sheet, making Animoca equity one of the most direct public-market expressions of HKD stablecoin exposure.

For DeFi protocols and Web3 infrastructure builders, the strategic implication is clear: build HKD-denominated liquidity pools, integrate HKDAP as a collateral asset, and develop settlement tooling before the Q2 2026 launch creates first-mover competition. Protocols like decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and tokenized fund platforms that integrate HKDAP early will benefit from regulatory tailwinds — HKMA-licensed stablecoin acceptance is likely to become a signal of institutional-grade compliance rather than a minor feature. The Animoca portfolio companies are the most natural early adopters; builders with existing Animoca or Standard Chartered relationships should be accelerating integration planning now.

For established financial institutions outside the two licensed issuers, the licensing decision should be read as a warning rather than reassurance. The 34 rejected applicants include an undisclosed mix of banks, FinTechs, and crypto-native firms — and many of them are likely reconsidering their go-to-market strategies. Being locked out of the first licensing round is not permanent exclusion (HKMA has indicated ongoing licensing reviews), but it does mean ceding 12–18 months of first-mover advantage in what may become the most important institutional stablecoin market outside the US. Banks with significant Hong Kong operations — Bank of China HK, Hang Seng Bank, DBS — should treat their absence from the initial round as an urgent strategic deficit requiring remediation.

Outlook: 30 / 180 / 365 Days

• 30 days: Anchorpoint completes final preparations and announces the specific blockchain(s) on which HKDAP will be deployed, along with the first cohort of authorized B2B2C distributors. Expect at least 3–5 major Animoca portfolio companies to be named as launch partners. The HKMA will receive new applications from institutional entities who missed the first round, with a second licensing wave targeted for Q3 2026. HSBC will release a product roadmap specifying PayMe integration timeline.

• 180 days: HKDAP achieves initial circulation of HKD 500M–2B (approximately $64M–$256M USD) as early enterprise clients and Animoca portfolio companies begin using it for tokenized asset settlement and cross-border flows. HSBC's stablecoin enters public beta on PayMe, initially limited to P2P transfers among existing users. A second HKMA licensing round grants 1–2 additional licenses (most likely Bank of China HK and/or a MAS-regulated Singapore entity seeking a Hong Kong license). Competition between HKDAP and HSBC's stablecoin for DeFi protocol integrations becomes a defining dynamic — expect Anchorpoint to move faster given the Animoca relationship.

• 365 days: Combined HKDAP and HSBC HKD stablecoin circulation reaches HKD 5–20B ($640M–$2.6B USD), representing the first meaningful challenge to USDC's dominance in Hong Kong-based institutional DeFi. The HKMA's tokenization initiative (Project Ensemble) scales with regulated HKD stablecoins as the native settlement instrument for Hong Kong's tokenized bond and fund market. The geopolitical significance of a regulated HKD stablecoin infrastructure becomes explicitly acknowledged in US-China financial diplomacy — with either escalatory (US secondary sanctions concerns) or collaborative (mBridge integration) implications that will define the long-term ceiling for HKD stablecoin adoption.

References

1. HKMA Official Press Release — Granting of stablecoin issuer licences (April 10, 2026): https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/04/20260410-4/

2. HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue — Insight article on regulated stablecoin ecosystem (April 10, 2026): https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/insight/2026/04/20260410/

3. Standard Chartered — Anchorpoint Granted Stablecoin Issuer Licence Press Release: https://www.sc.com/en/press-release/standard-chartered-backed-anchorpoint-granted-stablecoin-issuer-licence-by-the-hong-kong-monetary-authority/

4. Standard Chartered — JV Establishment Press Release: https://www.sc.com/en/press-release/standard-chartered-animoca-brands-and-hkt-establish-joint-venture-to-issue-hkd-backed-stablecoin/

5. Animoca Brands — Anchorpoint Licence Announcement: https://www.animocabrands.com/announcement/standard-chartered-backed-anchorpoint-granted-stablecoin-issuer-licence-by-the-hong-kong-monetary-authority

6. Animoca Brands — Sandbox Participation Announcement: https://www.animocabrands.com/standard-chartered-animoca-brands-hkt-join-forces-participate-hkma-stablecoin-issuer-sandbox

7. CoinDesk — HSBC and Standard Chartered-led group land Hong Kong's first stablecoin licenses: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/03/24/hong-kong-awards-first-stablecoin-licenses-to-hsbc-standard-chartered-led-group

8. CoinDesk — Hong Kong hasn't issued a single HKD stablecoin license after March target: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/01/hong-kong-hasn-t-issued-a-single-hkd-stablecoin-license-after-march-target

9. CoinDesk — Animoca Brands and Standard Chartered establish stablecoin issuer in Hong Kong (Aug 2025): https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/08/08/animoca-brands-and-standard-chartered-establish-stablecoin-issuer-in-hong-kong

10. CoinDesk — Standard Chartered, Animoca and three others join HKMA's stablecoin sandbox (Jul 2024): https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/07/18/standard-chartered-animoca-and-three-others-join-hkmas-stablecoin-sandbox-as-participants

11. Bloomberg — HSBC, StanChart Get First Hong Kong Stablecoin Issuer Licenses: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-10/hsbc-stanchart-get-first-hong-kong-stablecoin-issuer-licenses

12. South China Morning Post — Hong Kong awards stablecoin licences to HSBC, StanChart-led group: https://www.scmp.com/business/cryptocurrency/article/3349644/hong-kong-awards-stablecoin-licences-hsbc-stanchart-led-group-long-awaited-roll-out

13. The Block — Animoca Brands JV Standard Chartered HKT: https://www.theblock.co/post/366116/animoca-brands-jv-standard-chartered-hkt

14. Morgan Lewis — Fiat-Backed Stablecoin Regulation Compared: UK, EU, Hong Kong, and US: https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2025/06/fiat-backed-stablecoin-regulation-compared-uk-eu-hong-kong-and-us

15. PANews — Global stablecoin regulations: historic "triple play" of GENIUS Act, HK licenses, and MiCA: https://www.panewslab.com/en/articles/019d2458-a311-73ef-a8f4-6be727267b30

16. Skadden — Major Jurisdictions Broadly Align on Key Principles of Stablecoin Regulations: https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2026/2026-insights/sector-spotlights/major-jurisdictions-broadly-align

17. Davis Polk — Hong Kong's licensing and regulatory framework for stablecoins is now in effect: https://www.davispolk.com/insights/client-update/hong-kongs-licensing-and-regulatory-framework-stablecoins-now-effect

18. Tokenization Insight — HSBC gains HKD stablecoin license and plans banking & payment integration: https://www.tokenizationinsight.com/post/hsbc-gains-hkd-stablecoin-license-and-plans-banking-payment-integration

19. Trade Finance Global — Hong Kong grants first stablecoin licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint: https://www.tradefinanceglobal.com/posts/hong-kong-grants-first-stablecoin-licences-to-hsbc-and-anchorpoint

20. Crypto.news — Animoca-backed Anchorpoint to launch regulated HKD stablecoin HKDAP: https://crypto.news/animoca-backed-anchorpoint-to-launch-regulated-hkd-stablecoin-hkdap-in-hong-kong/

21. Fireblocks — Hong Kong's Stablecoin Strategy: Regulation Meets Geopolitics: https://www.fireblocks.com/blog/hong-kong-stablecoin-strategy

22. Xinhua — Hong Kong grants first stablecoin licences to HSBC, Standard Chartered-backed venture: https://english.news.cn/20260411/85c7eee9324f4d659dbcae960e881a4e/c.html

23. The Defiant — HSBC and Standard Chartered win Hong Kong's inaugural stablecoin licenses: https://thedefiant.io/news/regulation/hsbc-and-standard-chartered-win-hong-kong-s-inaugural-stablecoin-licenses