Hong Kong stablecoins see their first batch of players exit the market

Original Title: "Exclusive | Hong Kong Stablecoins, First Batch of Players Exit"

Original Author: Zhou Zhou, Foresight News

 

The Hong Kong stablecoin and RWA market has seen its first batch of exits.

On September 29, sources told Foresight News that at least four Chinese-funded financial institutions and their branches, including Guotai Junan International, have recently withdrawn from applying for Hong Kong stablecoin licenses or temporarily suspended their attempts in the RWA sector out of prudence.

Morgan, an executive close to Hong Kong financial institutions, told Foresight News that some Chinese banks have adopted a more cautious strategy in the stablecoin sector under the guidance of regulators, with several institutions choosing to delay their entry. Industry insiders pointed out that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority set two important deadlines for market participants: intentions to apply must be expressed by August 31, and formal applications must be submitted by September 30. This means that institutions that have not submitted applications by tomorrow will miss out on the first batch of stablecoin licenses.

In the RWA (Real World Assets) sector, some Chinese institutions have also suspended related business attempts due to regulatory guidance. Lee, a practitioner close to Chinese securities firms, told Foresight News that several institutions, including Guotai Junan International, have suspended RWA-related business in Hong Kong, and Guotai Junan's RWA business has been halted. Lee also revealed that another Chinese securities firm listed on the A-share market has received notice to stop its attempts in Hong Kong's RWA sector.

Within the industry, some practitioners believe that stablecoins are also a subcategory of RWA. The essence of USD stablecoins is the tokenization of the US dollar, a real-world asset.

RWA (Real World Assets) refers to the tokenization of real-world assets. Common examples include US stock RWA (stock tokenization), US Treasury RWA (US Treasury tokenization), and gold RWA (gold tokenization). As an emerging industry, RWA has developed particularly rapidly in the US. For example, the largest US online broker Robinhood has attempted to launch stock RWA (stock tokenization), tokenizing private equity in well-known companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI, allowing ordinary retail investors to buy tokens representing equity in unlisted companies, attracting global attention in the financial industry.

In the US, stablecoins and RWA are booming, with giants such as Paypal, Robinhood, and Nasdaq entering the field; in Europe, nine major European banks have announced that they will jointly launch a compliant euro stablecoin next year. In Hong Kong, the launch of a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin is imminent, with more than 77 companies having submitted intentions to apply for a stablecoin license. Meanwhile, under regulatory supervision, Hong Kong's RWA pilot in the primary market has been running for over two years, with 30 to 40 projects currently in operation.

However, a large number of mainland institutions from the banking, securities, and internet industries have rushed in, making the Hong Kong stablecoin and RWA sectors appear overheated. Against the backdrop of rising market and public opinion enthusiasm, mainland regulators have chosen to cool things down.

The Hong Kong stablecoin and RWA sectors have seen their first batch of exits.

Partial Cooling

Before and after the official implementation of the Hong Kong Stablecoin Ordinance, the market has already begun to show signs of cooling, though only partially.

In early August, the author attended a conference in Hong Kong, where several financial institutions and internet companies announced their applications for stablecoin licenses and actively entered the RWA sector. However, almost overnight, all financial institutions, internet companies, and organizations involved in the Hong Kong stablecoin sandbox canceled external interviews and any public discussions about stablecoins.

On August 1, 2025, Hong Kong officially implemented the Stablecoin Ordinance, establishing the world's first comprehensive legal framework for stablecoin regulation. In the days leading up to the official implementation, a set of guidelines was distributed to financial institutions.

Foresight News learned from sources that mainland regulatory authorities conveyed relevant guidance to financial institutions, requiring them to remain low-key in stablecoin-related business and statements, avoid excessive publicity or creating media hype, and strictly manage internal research and public opinion.

"You can do it, but you can't talk about it," the source said.

According to a Caixin report on September 11, a source revealed: Hong Kong's stablecoin business is still in its early stages, and its future direction is unclear. Excessive participation by Chinese institutions may bring risks, so risk isolation is needed first. Another senior financial industry insider said that previously proactive Chinese banks and central SOEs with Hong Kong branches, such as Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank (Asia), and CCB International, may delay submitting applications for Hong Kong stablecoin licenses. Among them, Bank of China (Hong Kong) is one of Hong Kong's three note-issuing banks.

Morgan explained the regulatory stance to Foresight News: First, Chinese institutions involved in Hong Kong crypto business are prohibited from conducting business domestically and must be cautious in participating in virtual asset-related business; second, mainland funds are prohibited from flowing in; third, the parent companies behind Chinese financial institutions must bear compliance responsibility.

In summary, current mainland regulators are mainly concerned about Chinese financial institutions and internet companies rushing into the Hong Kong crypto market, and have already guided some Chinese institutions to exit stablecoin and RWA businesses. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's local "non-Chinese financial institutions" are still orderly conducting crypto-related business.

The pace of issuing Hong Kong stablecoin licenses may be similar to that of Hong Kong crypto exchanges. For example, only one or two institutions received the first batch of VATP crypto exchange licenses in Hong Kong, while seven or eight received the second batch.

A source told Foresight News that several crypto exchanges, such as Futu and Victory Securities, will officially operate in Hong Kong by the end of the year. The first batch of companies to obtain VASP licenses, such as HashKey, officially launched and began offering trading services in August 2023, which has now been over two years.

When and Where Will It Heat Up?

Since 2025, the entire US crypto market has been heating up, from exchanges, ETFs, stablecoins, RWA to DAT, with hotspots never ceasing. However, Hong Kong has its own pace.

Morgan said: Hong Kong's RWA pilot in the primary market has been running for over two years, with 30 to 40 projects currently in operation, most with a project size of around 10 to 20 million HKD. "In theory, Hong Kong's RWA secondary market can be developed, and there may already be institutions applying," Morgan said.

The same goes for Hong Kong's stablecoins. The Hong Kong Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox officially launched on March 12, 2024, and has been running for about a year and a half. After the stablecoin license ordinance took effect, the HKMA received 77 stablecoin license application intentions in August. Informed sources predict that the first batch of stablecoin licenses will be issued by the end of the year or early next year.

The cooling of Hong Kong's crypto market happened overnight, and likewise, the partial or sudden heating up of the Hong Kong crypto market may also happen in an instant.

Changes in the international landscape are also rapidly transmitting to Hong Kong's crypto industry. The progress of stablecoins and RWA in the US, Europe, South Korea, and other regions is also affecting Hong Kong's progress. On September 25, nine major European banks jointly launched a euro stablecoin governed by the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Participating banks said the plan would provide a true European alternative to the US-dominated stablecoin market and help enhance Europe's strategic autonomy in payments. This stablecoin is expected to be issued for the first time in the second half of 2026.

DAT (Digital Asset Treasury Company) is also a sector that Hong Kong has yet to fully develop. For example, "Jack Ma crypto concept stock" Yunfeng Financial accumulated purchases of 10,000 ETH in the public market on September 2, listing ETH as an investment asset in its financial statements, and stated that in the future, in addition to Ethereum, it plans to explore including diversified mainstream digital assets such as BTC and SOL in its strategic reserve assets. In the past month, Yunfeng Financial's stock price has risen by as much as 65.09%.

In the US, sectors such as ETF, stablecoins, RWA, and DAT have all heated up, with market enthusiasm running high; in contrast, Hong Kong is still taking a cautious and exploratory approach in similar sectors, with a noticeably restrained pace.

Exits and Entrants

Many are entering, and many are exiting.

From the first batch of crypto exchanges such as HashKey and OSL, to participants in bitcoin spot ETFs such as China Asset Management, and now to stablecoins, RWA, and DAT, there are countless sub-sectors in the crypto space for participation, attracting a continuous influx of financial institutions and internet companies seeking a share of the pie.

The VASP license has attracted a group of brokerage institutions, such as Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and Victory Securities; bitcoin and ethereum spot ETFs have attracted a group of wealth management institutions, such as China Asset Management and Bosera Funds; stablecoins have attracted a group of banks, such as BOCI and Standard Chartered; DAT has attracted a group of Hong Kong-listed companies, such as Yunfeng Financial, and has been included in their balance sheets... The crypto industry is fully integrating into the entire Hong Kong financial system.

Temporary exits do not mean permanent defeat. Just as the internet changed the financial industry, now almost all brokers are internet brokers, and all banks are internet banks. The integration of crypto and finance may become deeply seamless in the future. The first entrants bear the greatest risks, but also reap the greatest rewards.