Hong Kong's two licensed stablecoin issuers wait for a trading venue behind the city's yuan agenda

According to Cryptopolitan's account of the briefing, Hui's yuan agenda gives work to institutions that already exist ^[1]. Alongside the swap talks with the People's Bank of China and the new HKMA tender, HKEX is building an offshore renminbi bond index for ETFs to track, and starting in November, holdings bought through Northbound Bond Connect can serve as collateral at three of its clearing houses ^[2][4]. The HKMA has also raised its RMB Business Facility to 500 billion yuan and stretched the loan term to three years ^[6]. Divide 500 billion by 2025's record 935 billion yuan of offshore lending and the facility equals about 53% of that figure ^[16].

By the end of September 2025, the Stablecoins Ordinance, in force since August 1 that year, had attracted 36 applications ^[9]. The HKMA granted two licences, to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, on April 10, 2026 ^[10]. That is about 5.6% of the applicant pool, roughly eight months after the law took effect ^[17][18]. The 2026 Policy Address tells the Securities and Futures Commission to promote trading of regulated stablecoins on licensed platforms, but Cryptopolitan reports that barely any infrastructure has been built for it ^[11]. Hui's amendment bill would set up licensing for virtual-asset trading, custody, advisory and management services ^[8]. The report does not say whether a stablecoin venue has to wait for that bill.

Until a venue exists, RedCoin and HKDAP circulate only where their issuers place them ^[12][14]. In an HSBC survey covering more than 1,000 customers, 74% were able to name at least one way stablecoins could be used, and a quarter wrongly assumed the tokens were government-issued ^[13].

Hong Kong is keeping the two programmes apart. Hui said the Hong Kong dollar stays tied to the US dollar, with no switch to a yuan link or a float, and that the government will mainly spend in Hong Kong dollars ^[7]. Both licensed coins are pegged to the Hong Kong dollar ^[15]. Each is therefore a token on a currency tied to the US dollar. The yuan business, meanwhile, grows through the HKMA, HKEX and bank lending ^[3][4][5].

I'd expect the coins to stay inside issuer channels until the bill is tabled. The yuan measures come with sizes and a November start date ^[4][6]. The stablecoin side has a directive to the SFC and a bill promised for later this year ^[8][11]. The counter-case is that HSBC never needed an exchange for a launch confined to PayMe and its own app, so a missing venue costs it little in the first months ^[12]. A Beijing approval under the February notice for a yuan-linked coin in Hong Kong would bring the stablecoin regime into the yuan agenda ^[15]. A bill that slips past this year would keep both coins in issuer channels into next year. The view is wrong if a licensed platform lists a Hong Kong-dollar coin before the amendment bill is tabled.