Hong Kong Deals, Stabilizing Currency Patterns: Who is reshaping the next generation of finance

This is taken from the Rehab Financial Review
Author: Gao Hua, Vice-President, Vice-President, Professor of Finance, Ph.D. Tutor, long-term research on encrypted assets, in a series entitled " Stable currency: the future of digital finance " ; Xue Bo, post-doctoral researcher, International Finance School, University of Jordan

 

ON 10 APRIL 2026, THE HONG KONG FINANCIAL AUTHORITY (HKMA) OFFICIALLY ISSUED THE FIRST ISSUER LICENCE PLATES FOR STABILIZATION COINS TO THE FINANCE TECHNOLOGY LTD. AND HSBC BANK LTD. IN SHANGHAI。

Thus, Hong Kong, China, has largely completed the “legislation-review-issue” closure of the French currency stabilization currency and has taken the lead in moving the currency stabilization regulation to the implementation and operational preparation stages。

This is important not only because Hong Kong issued its first license plates, but also because of the factThe location of the stable currency in Hong Kong is changingI don't know. It is no longer merely an aid in encrypted asset transactions, but is explicitly embedded in real-world financial activities such as cross-border payments, local payments, transactions in monetized assets and programmable finance. In other words, Hong Kong is promoting the currency of stability, not to create new speculations, but to try to shape itDigital finance infrastructurePart of it。

The system is particularly clear in terms of the composition of the first holders. HSBC was the first to be established by the Bank of Slag Chartered (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Telecommunications and Animoca Brands. This combination suggests that Hong Kong's first stabilization coins were not simply legalized as “encrypted original projects” but rather a systemic consolidation of bank credit, payment entry and chain capabilities。

More notably, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority received 36 applications by the end of the first application period, and only two were eventually issued cardsOnly about 5.6% of the first numberAnd make it clear that the number of licences will remain “very limited”. This suggests that Hong Kong is not following a loose expansion routeHigh threshold, selective accessI don't know。

Hong Kong's “pre-emptive advantage” is not just a slogan. On 21 May 2025, the Hong Kong Legislative Council adopted the Stabilisation Currency Bill; on 30 May, the Ordinance was constitutional; on 1 August, the Stabilisation Currency Ordinance entered into force; by 10 April 2026, the first plates had been officially issued and Hong Kong had left“Legislative-review-dealing”The complete chain。

By contrast, while the EU MICA currency-related provisions were applicable from 30 June 2024, the overall framework was not fully applied until 30 December 2024; the UK FCA's new encrypted asset application window was not opened until 30 September 2026 and the new regulations were expected to enter into force on 25 October 2027. At least by the pace of institutional landings, Hong Kong has taken the lead in major international financial centres。

More importantly, Hong Kong is not only licensed, it has no scene. In February 2023, the Hong Kong Government completed its first HK$ 800 million in dollarized green bonds and, in February 2024, some HK$ 6 billion in digital green bonds covering the Hong Kong dollar, the renminbi, the United States dollar and the euro. At the same time, the first phase of e-HKD has involved 16 institutions covering six applications; Project Ensemble Sandbox has also been launched and is gradually entering a new phase in support of real value transactions. That is to say, Hong Kong does not start telling stories from scratch, but rather builds on a set of initial financial experiments and infrastructure in the chain。

Of course, the importance of Hong Kong's dealings cannot be simply understood as the fact that it is about to reformulate its global currency stability. The total market value of the global stable currency market now stands at US$ 317 billion, an increase of more than 50 per cent compared to the beginning of 2025; but structurally, however, the market value of the global stable currency market is now more than 50 per centMORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF THE FRENCH-SUPPORTED STABLE CURRENCY REMAINS ANCHORED IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS, WITH USDT AND USDC TOGETHER ACCOUNTING FOR APPROXIMATELY 93 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL MARKET VALUEI don't know。

This means that the chain of finance has so far not fundamentally recast the global monetary power structure, but rather has largely continued the dominance of dollar credit, dollar assets and dollar liquidity. This breakthrough in Hong Kong is not about challenging the dollar in the short term, but aboutTake the lead in exploring a more institutionalized, verifiable and landable development path for non-dollar stable currenciesI don't know。

In the larger context of China’s digital finance, the real meaning of this deal in Hong Kong may not be whether the Mainland immediately replicates a renminbi stabilization system, but rather it further highlights a more hierarchical arrangement:Internal by NumberHold the renminbiStatutory currencynilSales payments and monitoring floors, with Hong Kong as a test site for the offshore regime, to explore the boundaries of application of compliance stabilization currency in cross-border payments, chain settlements and currencyization asset transactionsI don't know。

The digital renminbi is more in favour of official ownership and domestic institution-building, while Hong Kong's licensed stabilization currency is closer to offshore markets, international payments and chain trading. The two are not necessarily a substitute relationship, but are more likely to develop a layered, complementary pattern。

But the necessary restraint should also be exercised. The closure of the system does not amount to closure of the market, nor does the first issuance mean that the pattern of competition is rigid. The real run of the Hong Kong dollar is still dependent on the emergence of sufficiently strong network effects, payment needs and scene stickiness. Especially when the dollar stabilization currency has created a clear pre-emptive advantage, can the Hong Kong model doMoving from a “quality template” to a “system of scale” requires time to testI don't know。

Overall, the issuance of Hong Kong's first stabilization currency licences is indeed an important point in the evolution of global stabilization currency regulation. What is of real concern is not how much market results Hong Kong has achieved, but rather that it pioneered a sample of systems that can be observed, tested and iterative。

Of the 36 applications, only 2 had been issued, and Hong Kong was not a step towards flooding, but rather a high-threshold screening of the next generation of digital finance infrastructure. The key to this path in the future is not the number of licences issued, but the ability to transform institutional credit, the real scene, payment networks and the flow of assets along the chain into a real system。