Hong Kong central bank to begin licensing fiat-pegged stablecoin issuers

The central bank will be responsible for issuing licenses to issuers of fiat-backed coins

Hong Kong passes bill to regulate stablecoins

21.05.2025 - 14:50

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3 min

What’s new? On May 21, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in the third and final reading passed the bill on stablecoins, establishing a licensing regime for issuers of coins with a peg to fiat currencies. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), acting as the central bank, will be responsible for issuing licenses.

Press release

What else is known? The law will come into effect later this year, which will “give the industry sufficient time to understand the requirements under the licensing regime.” The HKMA also plans to consult further on the new regulatory framework.

Under the new regime, issuers of stablecoins must comply with requirements in key areas such as reserve asset management, redemption mechanisms, and separate custody of client and own assets.

Issuers are expected to maintain robust systems to stabilize the value of tokens and comply with risk management and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing standards.

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MP Johnny Ng said the passing of the stablecoin legislation is “just the first step in building Web3 infrastructure”:

“Issuing stablecoins is only the beginning; the most crucial step is to develop more real-world applications. Whether in physical retail, cross-border trade, or peer-to-peer transactions, I believe there is tremendous untapped potential for stablecoin adoption.”

Source: X.com

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In March last year, the HKMA launched a regulatory sandbox for stablecoin issuers, with Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, Hong Kong Telecommunications, Jingdong Coinlink, and RD InnoTech joining.

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