Written by | Caijing reporter Tang Jun and Kang Kai

On the first day of the implementation of Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Regulation," the capital market, which had been bustling for nearly two months, cooled down.

Wind data shows that on August 1, A-shares and Hong Kong stocks related to stablecoins collectively fell. Among them, Hong Kong's Yaocai Securities (1428.HK) dropped nearly 20%, Yunfeng Financial (0376.HK) fell over 15%, OKLink (1499.HK), Lianlian Digital (2598.HK), Guotai Junan International (1788.HK), and OSL Group (0863.HK) all dropped over 10%; A-share Sifang Jingchuang fell over 5%.

Unlike May 21, when the "Stablecoin Regulation Draft" was passed by the Hong Kong Legislative Council, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (hereinafter referred to as "HKMA") did not release any information related to stablecoins on its official website on August 1.

Previously, on July 29, the HKMA published the licensing system document for stablecoin issuers on its official website.

At a technical briefing held on the same day, the HKMA stated that the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses in Hong Kong is expected to be issued in early 2026. At the same time, the HKMA emphasized concerns about money laundering risks and clearly stated that the identities of initial compliant stablecoin holders in Hong Kong must be verified, which implies a certain degree of real-name system.

In addition, HKMA officials have repeatedly emphasized that they expect to issue only a single-digit number of licenses in the first batch.

"The regulatory standards are stricter than the market expected, the licensing timeline is later than the market anticipated, and the number of licenses is fewer than the market expected, so the stock prices of stablecoin concept stocks naturally need to adjust," said Zou Chuanwei, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Institute of Digital and Technological Finance, to Caijing.

"Overall, the market reflects expectations for the implementation of Hong Kong's stablecoin policy," said Zheng Lei, chief economist of Samoyed Cloud Technology Group, to Caijing. The HKMA's attitude indicates that it will prioritize safety and stability in the early stages of licensing, which may mean that some popular institutions expected by the market will miss out on the first batch of licenses.

Licensing Slower than Expected

Stablecoins are a special type of cryptocurrency that possess advantages of decentralization, peer-to-peer transactions, low cost, and high efficiency due to blockchain technology. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stablecoins are usually pegged to fiat currencies or other reference assets to maintain a relatively stable value and serve as a medium for trading crypto assets.

In recent years, stablecoins have gradually penetrated traditional financial fields such as cross-border payments due to their stable value, high efficiency, and low cost, attracting significant attention from major global economies such as the United States, the European Union, and Hong Kong.

On August 1, 2025, the "Stablecoin Regulation" officially came into effect, marking the establishment of a licensing system for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, granting compliant stablecoins legal status in the region.

Prior to this, various sectors had high expectations for the progress of stablecoin issuer licensing in Hong Kong. On June 15, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan stated that after the regulation takes effect, the HKMA would process received license applications as quickly as possible to allow qualified applicants to conduct their business. On July 7, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated in a newspaper interview that the goal was to issue licenses within the year.

On July 29, the HKMA published the licensing system document for stablecoin issuers. The press release encouraged interested institutions to contact the regulator by August 31 or earlier to understand regulatory expectations and receive appropriate feedback. Licensing will be an ongoing process, and institutions that are well-prepared and wish to be considered early should submit applications by September 30 or earlier.

Zheshang Securities later stated, "This can be understood as an intention communication in August, with the first batch of license applications expected to begin in September."

HKMA Vice President Chen Weimin stated that institutions applying for licenses need to submit a large amount of documentation, which is a heavy workload, and the regulator also needs to invest equivalent effort to review all materials. The first batch of stablecoin licenses is expected to be issued in early 2026.

"The overall pace of advancement is slightly slower than we expected, reflecting the HKMA's prudent and stable regulatory attitude. We expect the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses to be issued early next year," stated Citic Securities.

In this regard, Yu Weiman mentioned in an article published on July 23: "The relatively stringent regulatory requirements will inevitably limit the possibility of stablecoin businesses expanding significantly in the short term, and the industry will respond to this, which is expected. After all, regulated stablecoin businesses are in their infancy; it is better to be strict and steady first, and then relax appropriately based on practical experience, rather than starting too loosely and then having to clean up the chaos, which is clearly more beneficial for the sustainable and healthy development of the market and issuing institutions."

At the aforementioned technical briefing, the HKMA particularly emphasized the regulatory requirements for anti-money laundering.

HKMA Assistant Vice President (Regulations and Anti-Money Laundering) Chen Jinghong stated that the requirement to verify the identity of each compliant stablecoin holder in Hong Kong is stricter than the previous regulatory agency's consultation document on anti-money laundering guidelines.

Currently, the HKMA has outlined anti-money laundering regulatory requirements in the "Guidelines for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Applicable to Licensed Stablecoin Issuers)," including risk assessment, customer due diligence, ongoing monitoring, stablecoin transfers, and suspicious transaction reporting.

It is worth noting that in June of this year, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), known as the "central bank of central banks," released a special chapter of its annual economic report in advance, issuing a strong warning about stablecoins.

The BIS believes that stablecoins have not yet met the requirements to become a pillar of the monetary system in three key tests: singularity, resilience, and integrity. In particular, there are significant flaws in integrity, mainly manifested in that "stablecoins have become the preferred choice for illegal use to bypass integrity protection measures," which primarily points to the challenges they pose for anti-money laundering.

Concept Stocks Adjust

Since the "Stablecoin Regulation Draft" was passed by the Hong Kong Legislative Council on May 21, the concept of stablecoins has been heating up in the capital market.

"Some listed companies, regardless of whether their main business is related to stablecoins or digital assets, as long as they claim to be interested in developing stablecoin businesses, their stock prices rise sharply, trading volumes increase significantly, and the company's visibility is greatly enhanced." In an article on July 23, Yu Weiman stated that with the hype around the stablecoin concept, the market has shown signs of excessive excitement.

On July 3, Hong Kong stock Multi-Point Intelligence (2586.HK) announced that it was preparing to apply for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong, and its stock price surged over 20% on the same day, with intraday gains approaching 90%. Public information shows that Multi-Point Intelligence was founded by Zhang Wenzhong, the founder of Wumart Supermarket, and its main business is providing digital solutions to retailers.

A-share investors also showed enthusiasm for stablecoins. On the morning of July 29, rumors circulated in the market that "Hang Seng Electronics is collaborating with Ant Group on stablecoins," leading to a limit-up for Hang Seng Electronics (600570.SH) on that day. According to media reports, Hang Seng Electronics responded that it had noticed the rumor, and the stock limit-up might be related, but whether the collaboration would happen needs to be confirmed by official announcements. The next day, an analyst from Huafu Securities claimed to have forwarded the information, but it was later confirmed to be false.

Virtual asset trading related to stablecoins has also been highly sought after. On June 25, Guotai Junan International announced that it had been approved to upgrade its securities trading license to provide comprehensive virtual asset-related trading services. The company's stock price surged nearly 200% on that day. As of August 1, Guotai Junan International's stock price was HKD 5.71 per share, an increase of nearly 380% compared to before the license upgrade.

Wind data shows that since May 21, the A-share stablecoin index has risen over 25%; some Hong Kong stablecoin concept stocks have seen huge gains, with OKLink rising over 185%, Yaocai Securities rising 86%, and Yunfeng Financial rising 55.9%.

In the face of the capital market's enthusiasm, Yu Weiman published two articles to "cool down" the stablecoin hype.

On June 23, Yu Weiman published an article titled "The Prudence and Sustainable Development of Stablecoins," stating, "As the executor of the stablecoin regulatory system, we certainly welcome the public's interest in stablecoins, but out of the responsibilities of a regulator, I also want to cool things down so that everyone can view stablecoins more objectively and calmly."

A month later, Yu Weiman published another article stating, "The cooling efforts still need to be strengthened." He bluntly stated that the current discussions around stablecoins are overly conceptualized and show signs of bubble formation.

"We have previously made it clear that at the initial stage, at most only a few stablecoin licenses will be issued, in other words, there will be many disappointed parties." Yu Weiman further stated that even if a license is obtained, the contribution to the company's short-term profitability will have a certain degree of uncertainty, and he hopes investors will remain calm and think independently while digesting the market's "positive" news.

After the market closed on July 29, the HKMA announced that it would not issue licenses within the year.

"This is a significant deviation from the market's earlier prediction that stablecoins would be rapidly advanced starting in August," Zheng Lei stated, adding that at least until early next year, the capital market's speculation on stablecoins will cool down.

Since July 30, stablecoin concept stocks have collectively adjusted. Wind data shows that stocks such as Yaocai Securities, Lianlian Digital, and Yunfeng Financial have seen cumulative declines of over 20% in the last three trading days.

Who Will Seize the Opportunity?

Despite the slower-than-expected licensing pace, with the official implementation of the "Stablecoin Regulation," the market remains highly focused on the list of stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong.

Citic Securities released a research report suggesting continued attention to issuers likely to obtain the first batch of scarce licenses and platforms that are deterministically involved in the creation of stablecoin use cases.

In light of the changes in the licensing pace, who will be the first to obtain a license?

In a previously published article, Yu Weiman mentioned some licensing requirements for stablecoin issuers, including that licensed stablecoin issuers must have real application scenarios, sufficient supporting capabilities and experience in different fields, and capabilities in technology security, risk control, and anti-money laundering, among others. License applicants must demonstrate a specific and feasible business plan and possess sufficient technical and financial resources to support operations.

"The HKMA has already declared its requirements for licensed institutions," Zou Chuanwei stated. "First, there must be stablecoin use cases; second, there must be blockchain technology reserves that can meet regulatory compliance requirements, including anti-money laundering requirements."

Regarding scenarios, Zou Chuanwei believes that currently, over 90% of the trading volume of US dollar stablecoins comes from crypto asset trading. Hong Kong may place more emphasis on the application of Hong Kong dollar stablecoins in real economic scenarios such as cross-border trade settlement.

According to Yu Weiman, as of July 23, dozens of institutions have proactively contacted the HKMA team, with some explicitly expressing their intention to apply for stablecoin licenses. Public information shows that institutions interested in applying for stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong include payment institutions, internet companies, commercial banks, and more.

Among the institutions interested in applying for stablecoin licenses, JD Group, Standard Chartered Bank, and Yuanbi Technology, which are in the HKMA's stablecoin issuer sandbox, as well as Bank of China Hong Kong and Ant Group, which are not in the sandbox, are all hotly discussed as potential first batch license recipients.

On June 12, Ant Group announced that its two major business segments, Ant International and Ant Digital Technology, would apply for stablecoin issuer licenses in Hong Kong. Industry insiders analyzed that Ant Group's simultaneous application for two licenses is likely to increase its chances of obtaining a license.

A professional who has long followed stablecoins analyzed for Caijing that Ant Group has a good foundation in cross-border payments, RWA, and other scenarios, as well as in blockchain technology and anti-money laundering, making it highly likely to be among the first to obtain a license.

On June 17, JD's board chairman Liu Qiangdong expressed hope to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major currency countries and regions globally.

As of June 19, JD's stablecoin has entered the second phase of sandbox testing, with test scenarios mainly including cross-border payments, investment trading, and retail payments, and will provide mobile and PC application products for retail and institutional clients in the future.

According to media reports, recently, Yuanbi Technology's CEO Liu Yu stated in an interview that they intend to issue a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDR on the Ethereum public chain.

Several industry insiders told Caijing that JD and Yuanbi Technology have previously entered the stablecoin issuer sandbox and are therefore more familiar with the relevant mechanisms and processes, giving them a greater chance of being among the first to obtain a license.

On July 31, Standard Chartered Hong Kong's CEO, Mary Huen, stated that the company is studying the HKMA's latest stablecoin regulatory documents and aims to submit an application as soon as possible after the "Stablecoin Regulation" takes effect.

Among the aforementioned popular license-seeking institutions, Bank of China Hong Kong has not disclosed relevant information. Several industry insiders told Caijing that Bank of China Hong Kong will also apply for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong.

Caijing sought confirmation from Bank of China Hong Kong regarding whether it would apply for a stablecoin issuer license and its subsequent plans in the stablecoin field. Bank of China Hong Kong responded, "There is currently no information to provide."

Both Bank of China Hong Kong and Standard Chartered Bank are currency-issuing banks in Hong Kong, with the latter already having entered the HKMA's stablecoin issuer sandbox, and both are considered likely to be among the first to obtain licenses.

However, as the HKMA's licensing pace changes, market expectations have also shifted. Zheng Lei believes that the HKMA's attitude indicates that it will prioritize safety and stability in the early stages of licensing, which may mean that some popular institutions expected by the market will miss out on the first batch of licenses.

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