The battle for Hong Kong's first stablecoin license! Who will take the lead, JD Technology or Ant International?

On August 1, 2025, Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Regulation" will officially take effect, marking a key step for Hong Kong in the global digital finance landscape. The first batch of only 3-5 stablecoin licenses will be distributed by the end of the year, attracting dozens of financial and technology giants, including Standard Chartered Bank, JD Digits, and Yuan Coin Innovation Technology, to compete. This high-spec competition combining technology + Compliance + scenarios will determine who can seize the initiative in the Hong Kong stablecoin market.

Strict Threshold: Who Can Enter the Finals?

According to the regulations of the Monetary Authority, applicants must meet the following requirements:

Capital requirements: Paid-up capital ≥ 25 million HKD, and 100% of reserve assets must be high liquidity assets (cash, short-term government bonds)

Territorial principle: Companies registered in Hong Kong or recognized financial institutions, with core management residing in Hong Kong.

Scene implementation: There must be real application scenarios; merely talking about "cross-border payment efficiency" will be eliminated.

Risk Control Compliance: Bank-level KYC/AML, daily reserve audit, independent custody

Non-speculative positioning: Prohibit packaging stablecoins as investment tools

Core Candidates of the Three Major Factions

* Traditional Financial Giants: Dual Advantages of Compliance and Capital

Standard Chartered Bank (Anchorpoint Financial Limited)

Advantages: Hong Kong note-issuing institution identity + leading sandbox testing

Partners: Animoca Brands, Hong Kong Telecommunications

Application Scenarios: Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin HKDG, covering retail payments (2.7 million users), cross-border trade, DeFi

Win rate assessment: 60%, regarded as a benchmark case.

Bank of China Hong Kong & HSBC

Bank of China: Backed by the global network of Bank of China, deeply participating in the digital RMB pilot.

HSBC: Innovate the "Fiat + RWA" dual-anchor model to enhance returns with tokenized gold assets.

* Tech Giants: Dimensionality Reduction of Ecological Closed Loop

JD Technology (Hong Kong)

Advantages: Relying on JD.com's supply chain and cross-border e-commerce ecosystem

Application Scenario: JD-HKD directly targets Southeast Asia cross-border payment, settling time reduced from 3 days to 8 seconds.

Transaction Scale: Annual transaction amount expected to exceed 50 billion HKD.

Compliance progress: Sandbox testing phase two, Deloitte monthly audit endorsement

Ant International

Advantages: Alipay+ global network of 2.5 million merchants, TPS up to 100,000

Challenge: Application is slightly late, need to coordinate the RMB peg policy

* Fintech and New Forces in Brokerage: Differentiation Breakthrough

Round Coin Innovative Technology (RBCT)

Background: Founder Chen Delin (former President of the Monetary Authority)

Focus: Hong Kong Dollar stablecoin HKDR, mainly targeting enterprise cross-border payments and DeFi

Cooperation: Reserve assets custodied at ZhongAn Bank

Guotai Junan, Futu Securities, Zhong An Bank, AnchorX, OSL

Each leverages their advantages in trading, asset management, virtual banking, cross-border settlement, and Compliance licensing.

Regulatory Preferences and Selection Criteria

The Monetary Authority will give priority to:

1. Cross-border payment implementation capability (priority over pure Web3 applications)

2. Full reserve and T+1 redemption capability

3. Bank-level risk control and daily auditing

4. Avoid speculative attributes and emphasize the positioning of payment tools.

Under these standards, Standard Chartered's joint venture with JD Technology is regarded as the strongest competitor due to its leading progress in scenario implementation and compliance; Coin Innovation Technology has emerged as a dark horse with its regulatory background and technical focus.

Potential Dark Horse and Long-term Pattern

Ant International: If the issue of the RMB peg policy can be resolved, it is expected to break through using the "basket of currencies stablecoin" model.

CNH stablecoin: If political coordination goes smoothly, the HKD/RMB dual-track system may become the second focus.

Long-term forecast: The first batch is limited in scale and needs 1-3 years to cultivate a Hong Kong version of "Circle".

Conclusion

The battle for the first batch of stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong is not only a direct confrontation between financial and technology giants, but also a key battle for redefining the status of an international financial center. If regulators emphasize the stability of the banking system, Standard Chartered's joint venture will have a higher chance of success. If the focus is on technological empowerment and efficiency, JD Technology may take the lead. Regardless of who emerges victorious, the iron triangle of technology + Compliance + scenarios is the core key to bridging virtual and real finance.