Standard Chartered becomes first bank to distribute Hong Kong dollar stablecoin

Standard Chartered (STAN) has become the first bank to become a distributor of one of Hong Kong’s two regulated stablecoins.

The London-based bank said it will initially help its eligible institutional clients and partners to integrate the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin issued by Anchorpoint Financial (HDAKP), of which it is a majority shareholder, in an emailed announcement on Monday

Standard Chartered also said it has plans to roll-out a number of new HKDAP commercial applications over the coming month. Use cases include market fund subscriptions, settlement with asset managers, intragroup settlement across the bank’s global network and cross-border payments, Standard Chartered said.

Anchorpoint Financial began a limited rollout of HKDAP on Aug. 12, four months after securing one of the city’s first two issuer licences. The initial rollout will focus on institutional payments and settlement before adding more access channels and cross-border applications.

HSBC, the other initial licensee, is preparing its stablecoin for the second half of 2026 and could distribute it through PayMe, which has 3.3 million users. Kraken parent Payward has also expanded its Hong Kong stablecoin operations through a $600 million agreement to buy Reap Technologies.