Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Drama: 40+ Firms Enter the Arena—But Will Anyone Win?

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In the foggy mists of Hong Kong’s mornings—where even the pigeons seem scheming—a new contest is brewing. The licensure of stablecoins, with more than forty firms now eyeing the fabled gold ring: approval from the regulators. Such is the fever that, were you to eavesdrop on the city’s boardrooms, you might overhear not the discussion of fortunes made, but of fortunes that might never materialize.

Local pamphleteers (known nowadays as “First Financial”) have breathlessly counted more than forty hopefuls at the starting line. Well-known titans—JD.com and Ant Capital, for example—are among those polishing their armor, each wondering whether theirs is the favored steed. With August 1 approaching like an overzealous tax collector, all eyes turn to the oracles who bear scrolls marked “Regulatory Framework.”

But alas, as in every game where the number of chairs is fewer than the number of dancers, not everyone will find a seat. Rumor whispers—over tea and perhaps a stern whisky—that licenses may be handed out in single digits. Yes, truly: a stampede with room at the finish for only a handful. 🐎

“Hong Kong’s stablecoin licenses are still relatively scarce. More than 40 companies have submitted applications, and law firms have reported that there are dozens of companies that intend to apply. The competition is very fierce,” an “expert”—anonymous and doubtless distracted by visions of coin-shaped trophies—reportedly intoned.

It would seem the regulators desire not a wild bacchanalia but rather a modest gathering—something you might host for a maiden aunt rather than a raucous cousin. Layered atop this exclusivity are strictures so severe that one could almost mistake the HKMA for a knitting circle of severe matrons. Stringent risk controls! Anti-money laundering, so enthusiastic it’s almost anti-money itself! And a demand for proof that one’s stablecoin could—hypothetically—purchase a bun at a bakery. Or at least a metaphorical bun.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan, a man who has mastered the art of the cautious exhale, assures the public that things will proceed step by step. Rome, apparently, could have been built faster if only it had adopted a fiat-pegged token as its currency. Chan dreams of Hong Kong becoming the globe’s stablecoin Shangri-La, attracting issuers the way lanterns attract June bugs (or regulators, lawsuits).

The licensing surge is but the opening act: on June 26, a new “LEAP” framework—one imagines the name was chosen for its optimistic energy—tiptoes onto stage. Once in place, it promises a glorious age of pilot programs, wherein digital tokens purchase not mere dreams, but coffee, tram tickets, or perhaps a sense of existential security. (No guarantees, mind you.)

Finally, the powers that be, never ones to miss out on a committee, propose “collaboration”—public agencies clasping clammy hands with industry players, all to build the invisible infrastructure needed for digital fiat. Whether these partnerships will yield a garden or merely a tangle remains, as ever, to be seen.

And so, the city waits: hopeful, anxious, and possibly still a little confused about what any of this means. 🐦🤷‍♂️

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2025-07-08 16:27