The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of HSBC, has been issued a stablecoin issuer licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
According to HSBC, the licence is part of its plans to launch a Hong Kong dollar (HKD) denominated stablecoin in the second half of 2026.
Maggie Ng, CEO Hong Kong at HSBC said: “By integrating stablecoins into how our apps are used to pay and invest, HSBC is helping customers participate confidently in the future of digital finance and realise the benefits it can deliver.”
In its initial phases, use cases for the HKD stablecoin will be Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments on the HSBC HK app, Peer-to-Merchant (P2M) Payments via PayMe and tokenised investments also via the HSBC app.
Each stablecoin issued by HSBC will be fully backed at all times by liquid assets held in segregated accounts, meeting financial crime compliance standards.
The upcoming issuance of HKD is part of HSBC’s plans to spearhead the future of stablecoin innovation in Hong Kong.
“Today’s news aligns with Hong Kong’s ambition to become a global digital asset hub,” added Ng.
