Table of Contents
Researcher
\[ASA News] is a bi-weekly newsletter where we share the most important news related to stablecoin in Asia. (2026.02.02~02.15)*
Written by Moyed
1. [News] HKMA to License Select Few Issuers as China Expands Crackdown on Stablecoins and Tokenization
Source: Hong Kong will start granting stablecoin issuer licenses in March: Reuters
HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue announced plans to grant the city's first stablecoin issuer licenses in March during a Hong Kong Legislative Council session. However, only a "very small number" will be approved initially, with assessment criteria focused on risk management, anti-money laundering (AML) controls, and the quality of backing assets. Licensed issuers must comply with local regulations for cross-border activities, with mutual recognition agreements with other jurisdictions to be explored in the future. Currently a roughly $300 billion asset class, stablecoins are projected by Citi to grow to $1.9 trillion to $4 trillion, while Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters has noted that Hong Kong's stablecoin push could lay the foundation for a new era of digital trade settlement.
In the same week, mainland China moved in the opposite direction. A joint notice from eight national agencies, including the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), reaffirmed the blanket ban on crypto trading, issuance, and facilitation, while significantly tightening regulations on stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Notably, the notice prohibits offshore issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins without government approval, a restriction extending to overseas branches of domestic firms. Chinese companies pursuing tokenization abroad must now obtain prior approval or file with regulators, and their financial and technology partners face heightened compliance standards.
2. [Commentary] A Digital Finance Version of 'One Country, Two Systems': Hong Kong and the Mainland's Diverging Trajectories
2.1 Moyed (ASA Contributor, Delta Network)
The two announcements from the same week paint a dramatic picture of a digital finance version of "One Country, Two Systems." While Hong Kong grants stablecoin issuer licenses and strengthens its positioning as a global digital asset hub, the mainland expanded its crackdown to encompass stablecoins and tokenization, issuing the most comprehensive crypto regulation since 2021. On the surface this appears contradictory, but both sides depart from the same logic of "monetary sovereignty." Hong Kong seeks to reinforce its standing as an international settlement hub through regulated stablecoins, while the mainland aims to preserve monetary control centered on the digital yuan (e-CNY).
This fork did not appear overnight. Hong Kong implemented its virtual asset exchange licensing regime in June 2023 and granted retail trading licenses to HashKey and OSL that same year. In 2024 it became the first jurisdiction in Asia to approve spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and has been running issuance experiments through its stablecoin sandbox under HKMA supervision. The mainland, by contrast, progressed from banning ICOs in 2017 to its sweeping prohibition on crypto trading and mining in 2021, and has now extended enforcement to stablecoins and RWA tokenization. The ban on offshore renminbi stablecoin issuance, in particular, reads as an effort to preemptively eliminate potential competition with the digital yuan project.
The most critical aspect of this dynamic is that Hong Kong's stablecoin licenses could effectively serve as a conduit for Chinese capital to access digital assets. With direct crypto activity banned on the mainland, licensed issuers in Hong Kong become the only pathway through which Chinese institutional capital can engage with digital assets in a regulated environment. It is no coincidence that Hong Kong-based global banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC are aggressively building stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure. As the regulatory gap between Hong Kong and the mainland widens, Hong Kong's value as an irreplaceable "regulatory arbitrage" base in Asia's digital asset market is set to grow.
