Hong Kong’s cautious stablecoin progress
“Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson ||
Hello everyone! I hope you’re all well.
What an amazing eclipse last night – even more beautiful and moving than I expected. I’ll share my favourite photo from the evening down below.
👀 You’re reading Crypto is Macro Now, which covers the role crypto is playing in the changing plates of finance, economics, politics, culture and markets. 👀
Programming note: this newsletter will skip publication tomorrow, Friday 14th.
PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: ✨ ALLIUM ✨
What do we mean by “onchain data”?
Every transaction on a blockchain leaves a permanent record.
The hard part is turning those raw records into something finance teams can actually use. Our latest guide breaks down what onchain data really is, why it matters, and how it becomes usable.
→ https://allium.so/blog/what-is-onchain-data-a-clear-guide-to-blockchain-data/
And get weekly onchain data and analysis like this from the Allium Research team on Substack.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Hong Kong’s cautious stablecoin progress
Macro: a cloudy US CPI report
Crypto is Macro Now offers ~daily commentary and updates on the overlap between the crypto and macro landscapes. Plus links and more.
If you’re a premium subscriber, thank you so much!! ❤
WHAT I’M WATCHING:
Hong Kong’s cautious stablecoin progress
A year after passing the relevant regulation, Hong Kong finally has its first authorized stablecoin.
Some background: Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Ordinance regulatory framework kicked in last August. In April of this year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued two licenses. Yes, two out of the 36 it reviewed. If that alone wasn’t enough to underscore the caution, the issued licenses were to entities led by traditional banks.
One went to Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture between Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and Hong Kong Telecom.
The other went to HSBC.
It’s worth noting that Standard Chartered and HSBC are both global banks that can date their origins back to the 1800s. To give you an idea of how deeply embedded the two institutions are in Hong Kong finance, they are entrusted – along with the Bank of China’s Hong Kong entity – with printing the region’s bank notes.
Now, four months later, we get the first issuance. Yesterday, Standard Chartered’s Anchorpoint group announced that its HKDAP (Hong Kong Dollar At Par) stablecoin has entered “phase 1 rollout”, initially limited to institutions but with a view to enabling them to develop consumer-facing distribution.
