HKDAP launches as Hong Kong’s first licensed HKD stablecoin

Anchorpoint Financial has started institutional use of HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin issued under the city’s Stablecoins Ordinance and backed by Standard Chartered. Anchorpoint is a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands and received one of the first two issuer licences on April 10, 2026. The ordinance took effect on August 1, 2025.

HKDAP is pegged one-to-one to the Hong Kong dollar and must be fully backed by high-quality Hong Kong dollar reserves held in segregated accounts. The issuer is required to provide ongoing disclosure and customer asset protections under the regulator’s rules.

Anchorpoint completed technical preparation through the spring and summer. The firm carried out an issuance and transfer test on the Ethereum mainnet in May and continued testing public blockchain infrastructure to support uses beyond basic token issuance. Anchorpoint had earlier signalled phased issuance in the second quarter and a possible announcement in July but did not meet those dates as development work continued.

The token is being distributed to corporate and institutional clients through a network of recognised distributors rather than being issued directly to retail customers. Anchorpoint has not yet published the list of approved distributors and said it will disclose partners after commercial launch. Market participants have identified licensed virtual asset trading platforms such as OSL Group and HashKey Exchange as likely early distributors.

Anchorpoint has identified cross-border corporate payments and tokenised asset transactions as initial use cases. Mary Huen, Standard Chartered’s Greater China and North Asia chief, noted that businesses face practical difficulties in international settlement because traditional payment systems do not operate around the clock and can carry higher costs.

HSBC holds the other inaugural stablecoin issuer licence granted on April 10, 2026. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has not announced a timeline for further licensing rounds. Anchorpoint and the regulator must continue to report on reserve arrangements and customer protections as required by the ordinance. Volume of transactions and adoption by corporate treasury and settlement systems will determine how quickly HKDAP is used for routine institutional settlement.