Overview

• The Stablecoins Ordinance passed on May 21 and takes effect August 1, imposing a licence requirement on fiat-backed stablecoin issuers overseen by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
• Ant International plans to submit its application for a fiat-referenced stablecoin issuer licence as soon as the ordinance is in force.
• The fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group is also preparing licence applications for its home base of Singapore and for Luxembourg.
• Competitors such as Jingdong Coinlink Technology have already trialled use cases in Hong Kong’s government-backed stablecoin sandbox.
• In Washington, lawmakers are advancing the Genius Act through the Senate to establish a US regulatory framework for stablecoins.