Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited has become the first authorized distributor of HKDAP (HKD At Par), marking a significant milestone in Hong Kong's digital asset ecosystem development. As reported by Standard Chartered, the bank is now authorized to support eligible institutional clients and partners in integrating HKDAP into their business activities. Mary Huen, CEO of Hong Kong and Greater China & North Asia at Standard Chartered, stated that the bank is pleased to be the first bank distributor to provide secure access to the market-first Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, reflecting their commitment to advancing innovation and belief in tokenized money's transformative potential for supporting the real-world economy.
Standard Chartered has revealed ambitious plans for Q4 2025 to launch tokenized money market fund (TMMF) subscriptions and settlements with leading international and local asset managers. The bank also intends to adopt intragroup settlement use cases across its network soon, with these pilots serving as blueprints for other institutional clients seeking to optimize commercial activities with on-chain stablecoin. According to Standard Chartered, these applications will help clients realize greater efficiency and value from tokenized money while contributing to Hong Kong's growth as a global digital assets hub. The bank, which is also the largest shareholder of Anchorpoint, expects to introduce several new commercial applications over the coming months as HKDAP advances through its phased rollout.
HashKey senior researcher Tim Sun told crypto.news that Hong Kong dollar stablecoins, including HKDAP, will serve as digital vehicles for the Hong Kong Dollar to enter the on-chain financial system rather than just payment tools. According to Sun, Asia's large cross-border capital flows, established financial system and growing use of asset tokenization create several possible applications for regulated HKD-denominated stablecoins. He identified cross-border settlement, corporate treasury management, and digital asset trading as areas where tokenized HKD could be used, stating that as more financial assets move on-chain, the market needs not only on-chain assets but also a matching on-chain settlement currency.
HKDAP operates under Hong Kong's regulated stablecoin framework, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granting its first stablecoin issuer licenses to Anchorpoint and HSBC in April. The Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect in August 2025, subjects covered issuers to requirements involving reserves, redemption, governance and risk controls. Anchorpoint began beta access on August 12 for institutional distributors and professional investors, with Standard Chartered joining as the first bank distributor on August 24. The regulatory framework requires issuers to have paid-up share capital of HK$25 million ($3.21 million) and maintain segregated reserve assets of high quality and high liquidity with minimal investment risk. HKDAP has a par value of HK$1 per token with tokens in circulation supported by a reserve pool with market value at least equal to outstanding HKDAP.
According to the latest Arthur D. Little report titled 'The sovereign stablecoin era: Replication, not resistance,' a fundamental shift is taking place in the global stablecoin landscape toward sovereign replication rather than resistance to USD stablecoin dominance. The report identifies the UAE's dirham stablecoin (DDSC) as a regional template for sovereign-sponsored local currency alternatives, with the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) approving the country's dirham stablecoin to go live in February 2026. This trend extends beyond the UAE to include Brazil's new virtual asset service provider regime, Nigeria's Compliant Naira (cNGN), Hong Kong's stablecoin licensing wave, and Japan's yen-pegged stablecoins. The report concludes that sovereign stablecoins are building their own response to USD stablecoin dominance, creating a multicurrency architecture where various instruments dominate different layers of the payment stack.
