20th August 2026
By Cyrus Tong
On August 12, 2026, Anchorpoint Financial launched HKDAP (Hong Kong Dollar At Par), marking the beginning of the institutional phase of Hong Kong’s first regulated HKD-backed stablecoin.
The launch is significant not simply because it adds another stablecoin to the global market.
It is significant because of what it represents about Hong Kong’s deliberate, structured, and compliance-first approach to building regulated digital payment infrastructure, and what that approach signals for the broader APAC stablecoin landscape.
Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture formed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT, began the first phase of its HKDAP coin roll-out via beta access, enabling initial distributors and users to begin integrating it into commercial applications.
Retail access is expected as early as end-2026, subject to market conditions.
The Consortium Behind the Product
The ownership structure of Anchorpoint Financial is itself a compliance story worth examining.
Anchorpoint Financial Limited is a subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and a joint venture established by SCBHK, HKT, and Animoca Brands in February 2025.
Standard Chartered holds the largest stake.
HKT brings telecommunications-scale distribution infrastructure.
Animoca Brands contributes Web3 ecosystem expertise and institutional digital asset relationships.
Three very different companies. Three very different competencies. One product built on the intersection of all of them.
That architecture is not accidental.
It reflects a deliberate strategy to combine the regulatory credibility of a major international bank, the distribution reach of a telecommunications operator, and the digital asset native expertise of one of the most active Web3 investment firms in Asia under a single licensed entity subject to HKMA supervision.
With the vision of utilising tokenised money to rewire and supplement existing financial infrastructure for the betterment of the real economy, the initial goal is to build and advance the regulated HKD stablecoin HKDAP to serve as a secure tokenised medium of exchange for digital economy and to facilitate international payments and capital flows.
The Regulatory Foundation: Hong Kong Moved First
The HKDAP launch does not exist in isolation.
It is the product of a regulatory framework that Hong Kong built before most jurisdictions had even reached legislative consensus.
Hong Kong’s stablecoin rules took effect on August 1, 2025, requiring issuers to secure a licence and meet capital, reserve and governance standards.
Hong Kong passed the legislation in May 2025, nearly two months before the US GENIUS Act was signed into law, placing the city among the earlier major financial markets to adopt a dedicated stablecoin framework.
Anchorpoint was among the first two firms to receive a stablecoin issuer license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April, alongside HSBC, after the regulator said it had received 36 applications.
Thirty-six applications. Two licences.
That ratio, which will be familiar to anyone who has navigated regulatory licensing processes across competitive markets, tells compliance professionals something important about the standard the HKMA is applying.
This is not a regime designed to maximise the number of licensed issuers.
It is a regime designed to identify the issuers who have built the compliance infrastructure, governance frameworks, and capital structures that the Stablecoins Ordinance requires.
The two successful applicants, Anchorpoint and HSBC, reflect that standard precisely.
Both are backed by internationally recognised financial institutions.
Both have deep regulatory relationships with the HKMA.
Both have demonstrated, through years of engagement before the licence application, that they can operate at the standard Hong Kong’s framework demands.
The Distribution Architecture and Its Compliance Implications
Anchorpoint is adopting a business-to-business-to-consumer model.
For now, only institutions, corporates, and professional investors can convert between fiat and HKDAP.
HashKey Exchange completed the first minting and redemption transaction at launch.
OSL Group serves as a second authorised distributor.
The B2B2C model is a compliance architecture decision, not merely a commercial one.
By distributing exclusively through authorised distributors, both of whom are themselves licensed under Hong Kong’s VATP framework, Anchorpoint has constructed a distribution chain in which every participant is regulated, every conversion point is supervised, and every AML and KYC obligation is assigned to a specific licensed entity.
HKDAP runs on Ethereum mainnet rather than a permissioned chain.
That decision to operate on public blockchain infrastructure rather than a controlled environment reflects confidence in the on-chain monitoring capabilities available to both Anchorpoint and its authorised distributors.
It also creates a compliance monitoring surface that is transparent and auditable by the HKMA in ways that permissioned chains do not automatically provide.
HSBC holds the other initial licence and is expected to distribute its own stablecoin through PayMe in the second half of 2026.
When HSBC’s product enters the market alongside HKDAP, Hong Kong will have two regulated, HKMA-licensed HKD stablecoins in active circulation, a competitive dynamic that will accelerate adoption and force the compliance standards of both issuers to evolve in response to real-world transaction patterns rather than theoretical frameworks.
What This Means for the APAC Stablecoin Landscape
The HKDAP launch has implications that extend well beyond Hong Kong’s borders. The primary use cases Anchorpoint has identified, such as cross-border payments, settlement of tokenised real-world assets, and international capital flows, are precisely the corridors where regulated HKD stablecoin infrastructure creates the most immediate commercial value.
Hong Kong’s position at the intersection of mainland Chinese capital flows, ASEAN trade finance, and global institutional investment makes a regulated, HKMA-licensed HKD stablecoin structurally relevant to a wide range of institutional participants operating in those corridors.
For compliance professionals advising institutions with APAC cross-border payment exposure, HKDAP introduces a new regulated settlement option that must be assessed, risk-rated, and integrated into existing AML and sanctions compliance frameworks.
The authorised distributor model clarifies the compliance chain for the institutional phase.
The eventual retail expansion will require additional analysis of end-user risk profiles and transaction monitoring obligations.
My Take
I have spent over two decades building compliance frameworks across APAC and international markets.
And the HKDAP launch confirms something I have believed since Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance was enacted.
Hong Kong did not rush this.
The city passed its legislation before the GENIUS Act.
It received thirty-six applications and issued two licences.
It built a licensing standard that required applicants to demonstrate institutional-grade governance before any product reached the market.
The result is a stablecoin that launched with Standard Chartered’s regulatory credibility, HKMA oversight, public blockchain transparency, and a distribution chain in which every participant is licensed.
That sequencing – compliance infrastructure first, product launch second- is the template that every serious stablecoin market will eventually follow.
Hong Kong did not simply create a regulatory framework for digital assets.
It demonstrated what it looks like when that framework is built with genuine institutional seriousness.
And HKDAP is the first product to prove it works.
About the author
Cyrus Tong, an award-winning compliance expert, is the Group Chief Compliance Officer of DCS Group.
