{"id":61375,"date":"2025-12-02T07:01:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=61375"},"modified":"2025-12-02T07:01:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T07:01:32","slug":"hong-kong-stablecoin-hub-ambitions-at-risk-following-beijings-latest-crypto-warning-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=61375","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Stablecoin Hub Ambitions At Risk Following Beijing\u2019s Latest Crypto Warning \u2013 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hong Kong\u2019s stablecoin hub dreams have reportedly taken a hit after the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBOC) singled out the sector for the first time while reaffirming its long-standing position on the crypto industry.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s Latest Warning Targets Stablecoins<\/h2>\n

Legal experts and analysts suggested that Beijing authorities have clouded Hong Kong\u2019s ambitions to become a key regulated hub for stablecoins following the PBOC\u2019s explicit crackdown on the sector last week.<\/p>\n

As reported<\/a> by Bitcoinist, the People\u2019s Bank of China, alongside other top financial regulators, affirmed on Friday that stablecoins do not qualify as legal tender in the mainland, as they fail to meet regulatory requirements and pose a risk of being used for illegal activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirtual currency-related business activities constitute illegal financial activities. Stablecoins are a form of virtual currency, and currently cannot effectively meet requirements for customer identification and anti-money laundering, posing a risk of being used for illegal activities such as money laundering, fundraising fraud, and illegal cross-border fund transfers,\u201d the PBOC stated.<\/p>\n

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the recent pronouncement<\/a> sank previous hopes that Beijing might have softened its stance on cryptocurrencies amid the global regulatory shift toward the sector, led by the United States. Moreover, it could affect Hong Kong\u2019s efforts to become a hub for the stablecoin sector, analysts recently stated.<\/p>\n

In a blog post cited by SCMP, Liu Honglin, founder of Shanghai-based Mankun Law Firm, affirmed that \u201call the ambiguity, speculation and room for wishful thinking surrounding stablecoins over the past few years has vanished as of today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Brian Tang, founding director of the Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Lab at the University of Hong Kong\u2019s Faculty of Law, told the news media outlet that Beijing\u2019s latest stance means that applicants<\/a> for Hong Kong\u2019s stablecoin licenses would need to \u201c\u2018carefully reconsider\u2019 whether the use cases they had submitted to the HKMA \u2018touch mainland China issuers and users.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hong Kong Licenses Approval Risks Delay<\/h2>\n

The statement also adds to the challenges that Hong Kong\u2019s stablecoin push faces, the report noted. Earlier this year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) enacted<\/a> the Stablecoins Ordinance, which directs any individual or entity seeking to issue a fiat-referenced stablecoin (FRS) in the jurisdiction, or any Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)-pegged token, to obtain a license from the financial regulator.<\/p>\n

Following the rollout, multiple companies have applied for the license, with more than 30 applications filed, according to SCMP, including logistics technology firm\u00a0Reitar Logtech and the overseas arm of Chinese mainland financial technology giant Ant Group.<\/p>\n

E-commerce giant JD.com, through its fintech arm JD Coinlink, started testing HKD-pegged tokens under the regulator\u2019s sandbox program earlier this year. In August, Wang Hua, CFO and Board Secretary of PetroChina, also disclosed<\/a> that the company is closely monitoring the latest developments regarding the HKMA Stablecoins Ordinance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that Hong Kong\u2019s regulatory agency previously affirmed that the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses would be approved at the start of 2026. However, some industry players told the news media outlet that the PBOC\u2019s recent declarations could delay HKMA\u2019s timeline.<\/p>\n

An HKMA spokesperson stated that the regulator is currently reviewing the application and aims to begin with a few permits. Nonetheless, the spokesperson added that even if Hong Kong proceeds with the original schedule, projects involving the yuan or mainland Chinese institutions could be delayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think we will see offshore yuan stablecoin projects [in Hong Kong] within the next one or two years \u2026 as that conflicts with the current tone,\u201d he said. Meanwhile, Syed Musheer Ahmed, founder of FinStep Asia, concluded that institutions from the mainland \u201cwill have to wait\u201d before issuing stablecoins in the city.<\/p>\n

\"stablecoin,<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong\u2019s stablecoin hub dreams have reportedly taken a hit after the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBOC) singled out the sector for the first time while reaffirming its long-standing position on the crypto industry. Beijing\u2019s Latest Warning Targets Stablecoins Legal experts and analysts suggested that Beijing authorities have clouded Hong Kong\u2019s ambitions to become a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-61375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}