Hong Kong-based blockchain platform Bitspark today has announced the launch of a stablecoin pegged to Hong Kong dollar.

This will be one of the first Asian currency pegged coins after a series of dollar-pegged digital currencies.

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Commenting on this development, George Harrap, co-founder and CEO of Bitspark, said: “Until now, US Dollar stablecoins have dominated the market but there are other national currencies in the world, like the Hong Kong Dollar. We are proud to have pioneered this landmark first for both the cryptocurrency and traditional finance industry, and anticipate that this will lead the way for much-needed diversity among other currencies within the stablecoin sector.”

More and More Stablecoins

Last year, we have seen an influx of dollar-pegged stablecoins in the market and many players are still working to introduce their own. Goldman Sachs-backed CIrcle launched its own dollar-pegged coin along with another by the Winklevoss brothers-owned exchange Gemini.

The new players are also threatening the dominance of the long-standing stablecoin Tether. Unlike Tether’s controversial and opaque business model, they are following a transparent approach. Circle has hired one of the largest accounting firms in Chicago to publish a monthly audit report of the coin.

Bitspark has also assured to maintain transparency of the coin as it will publish a quarterly audit report of its books.

“Bitspark was founded in Hong Kong, a front runner for innovation in finance. We see the launch of Sparkdex.HKD as a clear opportunity for Bitspark to bring the benefits of this technology to Asia. We’re planning to also launch a further 179+ stablecoins to service the company’s money transfer markets starting initially with emerging and frontier markets.” said Maxine Ryan, co-founder and COO of Bitspark.

Japanese firms are also inclining towards the stablecoins market as one of the blockchain firms in the country has recently gained approval from the market authorities to test a yen-pegged cryptocurrency under a regulatory sandbox scheme.