Hong Kong to Grant First Stablecoin Licenses Next Month
What Did the HKMA Say About Timing?
Hong Kong’s financial regulator is preparing to issue its first stablecoin issuer licenses as ahead as March, according to a Reuters report, moving the city from rulemaking into live supervision. Speaking at a Legislative Council meeting, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue said the review of applications was close to completion.
Yue cautioned that the initial batch would be tightly limited. He told lawmakers that only a “very small number” of licenses are expected to be granted at the outset, reflecting a deliberate rollout rather than a broad opening of the market.
The comments suggest the HKMA is prioritizing control and credibility over speed, even as Hong Kong positions itself as a regulated hub for digital-asset activity.
Investor Takeaway
How the Licensing Review Is Being Applied
At a media briefing following the legislative session, the HKMA said its assessments are centered on practical execution rather than headline ambition. Review criteria include the proposed use cases for the stablecoin, risk controls, anti-money-laundering systems, and the quality and management of backing assets.
Licensed issuers will also be required to comply with Hong Kong’s cross-border activity rules, a key issue for stablecoins that can circulate well beyond the city’s financial system. That requirement reflects might be used offshore and whether oversight can extend beyond domestic boundaries.
The regulator’s focus suggests that stablecoins intended mainly for payments, settlement, or institutional use may be viewed more favorably than tokens built around loosely defined or speculative applications.
From Framework to Enforcement
The upcoming approvals mark the first real test of , which came into force last August. The law requires any entity issuing a stablecoin in or from Hong Kong to obtain a license from the HKMA.
In January, Finance Secretary Paul Chan said licenses were expected in the first quarter of 2026, aligning the rollout with Hong Kong’s “identical activity, identical risk, identical regulation” approach to crypto assets. The expected March approvals now point to the regulator moving near the front edge of that timeline.
Yue has previously warned that many applicants were not ready. In earlier remarks, he said some firms lacked credible implementation plans or the technical capability needed to run a stablecoin operation, an issue that appears to have narrowed the pool of viable candidates.
Investor Takeaway
Who Has Shown Interest So Far?
Market interest has been broad. The HKMA said in October that 36 institutions submitted applications in the first round of licensing. That figure included a mix of banks, crypto-native firms, and joint ventures.
Among the publicly disclosed moves, Standard Chartered’s arm and Animoca Brands announced in August that they had formed Anchorpoint Financial Limited to apply for a local stablecoin issuer license. In September, HSBC and also indicated that they were exploring applications.
Despite the list of interested parties, the HKMA has not confirmed the identity of any applicants under active consideration. The regulator has also warned that ahead approvals should not be read as endorsements of specific business models or tokens.
That caution is reinforced by the launch of a public registry in July 2025, designed to allow users to verify which entities are licensed to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong. As of Monday, the registry remained empty, underscoring that no approvals have yet been finalized.
What the First Licenses Will — and Won’t — Mean
The initial approvals are likely to carry symbolic weight. They will mark Hong Kong as one of the first major financial centers to move from stablecoin consultation to live licensing under a dedicated legal framework.
At the identical time, the limited number of licenses means the immediate market impact may be modest. Issuers will still face ongoing supervision, capital and reserve requirements, and scrutiny of how their tokens are distributed and used. If the first licenviews can operate without incident, the framework could widen over time.
