Hong Kong Clears Regulated Stablecoins for Trading, Settlement

Hong Kong’s 2026 Policy Address, published Sept. 16, permits regulated stablecoins to trade on licensed virtual asset platforms and to be used to settle tokenized money market funds.

The document tasks the Securities and Futures Commission with expanding virtual-asset licensing rules and issuing guidance for virtual asset service providers. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority plans to target EnsembleTX support for central bank digital currency settlement and 24-hour operation around the end of 2026, putting tokenized deposits, wholesale central bank money and regulated stablecoins on a common settlement rail.

The first regulated stablecoin issuer licences were granted April 10, 2026, to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial. Anchorpoint opened beta access in August to its Hong Kong dollar token HKDAP for institutional distributors and professional investors. HashKey Exchange is an authorised distribution partner and Standard Chartered acts as a bank distributor. Standard Chartered plans to offer subscription and settlement services for tokenized money market funds in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Before the Policy Address, licensed issuers could mint supervised tokens but faced limited venues to trade them or ways to use them for settlement. The new permissions allow licensed tokens to access trading platforms and to be used in fund settlement processes.

The Policy Address notes that most firms attaching to the new settlement and trading rails are expected to provide distribution, custody and tooling rather than to issue tokens themselves.

The SFC will widen its licensing perimeter to permit tokenized gold and other real-world assets to be issued and traded on licensed platforms. The document records that digital bonds issued in Hong Kong accounted for nearly half of the global market between 2025 and the first half of 2026. In June the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation priced a HK$12 billion digital bond with about HK$24 billion of orders from more than 100 institutional accounts.

Tests involving tokenized Exchange Fund Bills are scheduled by the end of 2026, with more than HK$1.3 trillion of bills potentially in scope. CMU OmniClear is expected to establish a digital asset platform during 2026 for bond issuance and settlement. The HKMA’s Tokenised Bond Expert Group, which includes several major banks and market firms, will conduct a second-phase legal review.

EnsembleTX’s move to round-the-clock settlement follows regional demonstrations of rapid tokenized cross-border settlement, including a weekend dollar transfer that settled in minutes between Singapore and New York.

Regulatory surveillance will expand alongside market permissions. The SFC plans to begin operating a digital asset custody surveillance system in the second half of 2026. Its CrypTech initiative is set to introduce big-data market surveillance and anti-money-laundering capabilities in 2027. The HKMA has launched a Quantum Preparedness Index to guide financial institutions on cryptographic upgrades.

The Policy Address sequences licensing and platform access first, then expanded asset types and 24-hour settlement, with custody and market surveillance to follow as activity increases.