Hong Kong will start issuing its first stablecoin issuer licenses in March, with the city’s regulator set to approve only a “very small number” of applicants in the initial phase. The move marks a cautious but concrete step toward a fully regulated stablecoin regime in one of Asia’s key financial hubs.

According to ChannelNewsAsia, HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue told Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on Monday that the review of license applications is nearing completion and that the first batch will be granted next month.

Considerations for Approving Issuers

Yue said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will focus on several core areas when approving issuers, including risk management frameworks, anti-money laundering measures and controls, and the quality and composition of assets backing the stablecoins.

Licensed issuers must also comply with local rules when engaging in cross‑border activities, with the possibility of mutual recognition arrangements with other jurisdictions explored at a later stage.

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CFD brokers are increasingly turning to stablecoins because traditional card-based payments are slow, expensive, and operationally cumbersome for cross-border flows.

Card transactions often involve 2–4% processing fees, delayed settlements, chargeback risk, and limited card access in some regions, all of which create friction for brokers trying to serve a global, high-volume client base.

“Institutional payment providers are already using stablecoins as a back-end settlement layer, keeping existing client interfaces while cutting 60–80% of correspondent banking costs and compressing settlement times from days to under an hour,” Fractional CPO and product strategy consultant Melissa Stringer recently commented.

What It Means for Brokers

Additionally, for brokers, the launch of a regulated stablecoin framework in Hong Kong introduces the prospect of using licensed tokens for client funding, margin, and internal settlements, subject to how individual firms update their policies.

Read more: Gold Backed Stablecoins Wait as Hong Kong Holds to Fiat-Only Rules

Liquidity providers could see regulated Hong Kong‑issued stablecoins emerge as a new collateral and settlement layer, particularly for cross‑venue flows in Asia.

Trading platform providers may also need to prepare for potential integration with HKMA‑licensed stablecoins, both at the wallet and payment‑rail level, as regulated digital money gains traction in trading workflows.

Market participants will watch which issuers make the first cut in March and how quickly the HKMA expands the pool. For now, the limited number of licenses points to a regime that prioritizes control and supervisory comfort over rapid scale.