Old Banks, New Chains: HSBC and StanChart Snap Up Hong Kong's First Stablecoin Licenses

Hong Kong just handed out its first two stablecoin issuer licenses, and wouldn't you know it — they went to the same folks who print the physical cash. Because why let some upstart crypto degens handle the money when you can trust the institutions that brought you 19th-century banknote printing and the 2008 financial crisis?

HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a Standard Chartered-led consortium that includes Animoca Brands, scored the inaugural approvals from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Friday. These are the first licenses issued under the Stablecoins Ordinance, which kicked in back in August 2025. The HKMA basically said "yes, you may now print digital money" to the same companies already printing the analog version — a power move that probably wasn't lost on anyone who remembers when banks were cool until they weren't.

The HKMA sifted through 36 applications and made it pretty clear from the start that the first round would be small. Financial Secretary Paul Chan had already signaled in his February budget address that only a "small number" would get the green light, with the regulator laser-focused on risk management, reserve quality, and AML controls. Thirty-six applicants walked in, two walked out with licenses — the HKMA's way of saying "we're open for business, but not that open."

But here's the interesting part: the decision to license the city's note-issuing banks first looks pretty deliberate. HSBC and Standard Chartered are two of only three commercial banks authorized to print Hong Kong dollar banknotes — a system that dates all the way back to 1846, when private banks started issuing currency backed by silver deposits. That's right, we're doing the same thing we did in the Victorian era, but now there's a blockchain involved. Innovation!

HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue drew the parallel in a December 2023 blog post: those pre-1935 banknotes were essentially "private money," and stablecoins are their blockchain-based equivalent — tokens with stable value that can serve as a medium of exchange on-chain. Eddie really said "it's basically the same thing, but with more code and fewer briefcases." The more things change, the more stablecoins look like banknotes with better PR.

These licenses come with one of the world's strictest KYC frameworks for digital money. Under the HKMA's AML guidelines, licensed stablecoins can only be transferred to wallets whose owners have been identity-verified. The travel rule kicks in for transfers above HK$8,000 (about $1,000). In practice, this means HKD stablecoins will likely embed compliance checks directly into their smart contracts, restricting transfers to wallets on an on-chain whitelist. That's a fundamentally different beast from freely transferable tokens like USDT or USDC. Imagine trying to send your aunt HK$500 for her birthday but first you need to verify her identity, run an AML check, and get on a whitelist. The bank is basically building a stablecoin for people who are terrified of freedom.

The bank-led stablecoin model also reflects the HKMA's decision to put its retail CBDC on the back burner. An 11-group pilot program wrapped up in October and found the retail case was weak. At last year's Hong Kong Fintech Week, CBDCs were barely a whisper — stablecoins were the hot topic instead. The HKMA basically looked at its CBDC pilot, shrugged, and said "yeah, nobody wants that" before pivoting to the one thing crypto actually uses. Sometimes the market tells you things.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters