Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Hong Kong to Require Stablecoin Licensing as Early as This Year

  • Wechat scan to share

Hong Kong is set to demand mandatory licensing for stablecoin issuers and won't allow algorithmic stablecoins, its top financial regulator said on Tuesday. Entities conducting regulated activity in Hong Kong will have to obtain a license to operate stablecoin services.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) laid out its regulatory plans after receiving feedback on a discussion paper published last year. Based on the 58 responses it received, the regulator said it will set up a regime to supervise stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to other assets.

To start with, the HKMA plans to supervise the governance, issuance and stabilization of fiat-backed stablecoins, for which issuers must maintain reserves matching the amount of the crypto in circulation. 

"The value of the reserve assets of a stablecoin arrangement should meet the value of the outstanding stablecoins at all times," the report said. "The reserve assets should be of high quality and high liquidity. Stablecoins that derive their value based on arbitrage or algorithm will not be accepted."

(By Sandali Handagama)

Related News:

Hong Kong To Publish Approved List of Crypto Assets for Retail Trading

Hong Kong Reaffirms Commitment to Becoming Regional Crypto Hub

Hong Kong’s Finance Regulator Considers Crypto To Be More an Investment Instrument Than a Bid for Freedom From Fiat Currency

Hong Kong set to enforce crypto regulation from June

Hong Kong Government To Issue Tokenized Green Bonds for Institutional Investors

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • The JuCoin ecological project JuChain has been launched on the main network, and the public chain co construction summit will be held. The ecological debut protocol is Butterfly

    Cointime News:JuCoin's self-developed public chain JuChain has been launched on the main network. The JuChain Public Chain Co construction Summit initiated by JuCoin will be held on May 15, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference will release the first ecological agreement--
  • JuCoin CEO: UX design in the encryption industry needs to pay attention to user emotional details to enhance user experience

    Cointime News: JuCoin CEO Sammi Li delivered a keynote speech at the TOKEN2049 conference, analyzing the current challenges in user experience (UX) design in the cryptocurrency industry. Sammi Li believes that the existing encryption product experience fails to effectively empathize with users, often leading to usage anxiety, which hinders the large-scale adoption of Web3. Combining her rich experience in the luxury goods industry, she emphasizes that building trust relies on paying attention to user emotions and critical moments of interaction, and constructing it through details rather than simply technical presentations. JuCoin is applying these user centered design principles to its Web3 ecosystem construction, aiming to lower user barriers and enhance user experience by optimizing JuChain and related product designs. It calls on the encryption industry to think together and place user experience at a more core position.
  • Xiongan New Area: Combining blockchain with digital RMB to launch "Digital Currency Loan" product, with payment amount of nearly 100 million yuan

    On January 11th, according to the Xiong'an Public Account, the digital RMB pilot in Xiong'an New Area has achieved new results. The first digital RMB tax payment transaction in the financial field has been completed, and self-service tax terminals have been developed. The "blockchain + digital RMB" technology is applied to government procurement management, increasing the proportion of advance payment and landing multiple applications to solve corporate problems. In 2024, the People's Bank of China Xiong'an New Area Branch, together with the Xiong'an New Area Reform and Development Bureau, will launch the "Implementation Plan for the Deepening of the Pilot Work of Digital RMB in the Rongdong Area", to enhance public awareness. By combining blockchain with digital RMB, the "digital currency loan" product will be launched, with a payment amount of nearly 100 million yuan.

  • Fardi Wang, Chairman of NEXUS 2140: AI•Web3•Ecom Global Expo, Made Appearance at Meta Crypto Oasis 2025 in Dubai

    Fardi Wang, Chairman of NEXUS 2140: AI•Web3•Ecom Global Expo, recently appeared at the Meta Crypto Oasis 2025 in Dubai, joining global Web3 leaders such as Justin Sun (Founder of TRON) and Chris (Co-founder of Sonic) to discuss the future of the industry. As the first cross-industry event integrating AI, Web3, and E-commerce, NEXUS 2140 is accelerating its international expansion through Fardi Wang’s active participation. At the summit, Fardi Wang emphasized that the integration of virtual and real-world assets is the key breakthrough for the Web3 ecosystem. He mentioned: “NEXUS 2140 is leveraging Korea’s policies, technological strengths, and ecosystem advantages to build a global industrial hub.” His insights received strong recognition from attendees, and the Dubai visit further amplified the international influence of the event, injecting new momentum into global digital economy collaboration.
  • BitradeX Partners with NVIDIA for Deep Collaboration, Leveraging GPU Power to Lead the AI Trading Revolution

    BitradeX has announced its partnership with NVIDIA through the NVIDIA Developer Program, entering into a deep collaboration to optimize its core AI trading model, ARK Trading Model, with NVIDIA’s A100 and H100 GPU clusters. This collaboration has significantly enhanced ARK's decision-making speed and precision, reducing decision latency from 2.1 milliseconds to just 0.07 milliseconds. This deep partnership marks a technological breakthrough for BitradeX, propelling the industry into the "AI Quantification 2.0 Era" and offering users a more efficient trading experience in the global financial market.
  • Cointime July 27th News Express

    1. As of July 25, BlackRock IBIT held more than 338,000 bitcoins, an increase of more than 1,092 bitcoins from the previous day.
  • Hong Kong's financial industry may study launching stablecoin trading desks and institutional custody services

    Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently announced the list of participants in the stablecoin issuer sandbox, including JD Coin Chain, Circle Coin Innovation, Standard Chartered Bank, Anni Group, Hong Kong Telecom and other institutions. Research reports released by Zeng Shengjun, a researcher at the Greater Bay Area Financial Research Institute of the Shenzhen Branch of Bank of China, and Guan Zhenqiu, a researcher at the Hong Kong Financial Research Institute of Bank of China, analyzed that the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin can improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the Hong Kong financial system. Its stability, free convertibility, high security, high open source and cross-border mobility can provide support for a wider range of financial innovations.
  • Hong Kong Legislative Council Member: The issuance and trading system of tokenized bond-related products can be shared with the mainland

    Hong Kong Legislative Council member Chan Chun-ying stated that the new productivity of Hong Kong's financial industry is currently mainly developed around digital and green themes. Regarding virtual assets, Hong Kong regulatory agencies should establish relevant trading platforms, stablecoin issuances, testing and operational mechanisms, capture digital development trends, and share relevant regulatory experience with the mainland. At the same time, Hong Kong's tokenized bond development is leading the world, and relevant product issuances, trading systems can be shared with the mainland or guide more mainland companies to issue, together meeting international market demand.
  • Hong Kong investment in virtual assets will not be subject to capital gains tax

    Hong Kong investors in virtual assets will not be subject to asset value-added tax, which is a very attractive point for global investors. For example, in Japan and Australia, although they have expanded the virtual asset market earlier than Hong Kong, they still need to pay asset value-added tax, which will be included in the comprehensive tax rate calculation. The comprehensive tax rates in Japan and Australia can be as high as 50% and 40% respectively. For investors, investment returns are of course the most important consideration, and Hong Kong's low tax system will attract more international investors to settle in Hong Kong.
  • Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Promote the implementation of the mutual recognition arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong, and allow sales to public investors in the other marke

    Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong welcomes the release of the "Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds Management Rules (Revised Draft for Solicitation of Comments)," which promotes the implementation of optimized mutual recognition arrangements for funds. The proposed measures for revision in the draft for solicitation of comments include relaxing the proportion limit for Hong Kong mutual recognition funds sold in the Mainland and allowing Hong Kong mutual recognition funds to transfer investment management functions to overseas asset management institutions under the same group as the manager. Currently, the proportion of mutual recognition funds sold in the other market cannot exceed 50% of the total assets of the fund. After optimization, this proportion limit will be relaxed to 80%. The SFC of Hong Kong will work closely to promote the formulation and implementation of relevant measures and will announce the implementation details and formal launch date of the optimized mutual recognition arrangements in due course. Cross-border mutual recognition of funds is a mature institutional arrangement in the field of international asset management market opening. As early as July 1, 2015, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission launched mutual recognition of funds, allowing Mainland and Hong Kong funds that meet certain conditions to be recognized or licensed for sale to the public in the other market in accordance with statutory procedures.