Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong became the first bank to distribute HKDAP, Hong Kong's first live regulated local-currency stablecoin, on August 24. According to reports from CoinDesk, the bank now joins HashKey Exchange and OSL as authorized HKDAP distributors, extending access to eligible institutional clients and partners. The launch represents a significant milestone as HKDAP operates on Ethereum blockchain and is designed to maintain a value of HK$1 per token while meeting Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance requirements for adequate reserves and par redemptions.
As reported by CoinDesk, Anchorpoint Financial issued HKDAP under licence FRS01 from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with 522,000 HKDAP circulating as of August 19 during the controlled beta rollout period. The regulator granted two stablecoin issuer licences in April, one to Anchorpoint and another to HSBC, though HSBC had not publicly launched its stablecoin when Standard Chartered announced its distribution service. Eligible clients can convert Hong Kong dollars into HKDAP and redeem tokens for fiat currency through authorized distributors, with access currently limited to institutions, corporate customers and professional investors.
According to AMBCrypto, Standard Chartered plans to launch several new HKDAP commercial applications within the next month, with use cases including tokenized money market fund subscriptions, settlements with asset management managers, inter-departmental settlements within the bank's global network, and cross-border payments. The bank will work with international and Hong Kong asset managers to provide these services, leveraging stablecoin infrastructure to reduce timing gaps between investment transfers and payment completion. Multinational companies could use HKDAP to transfer tokenized Hong Kong dollar value between subsidiaries 24/7, reducing reliance on bank cut-off times, intermediaries, and lengthy reconciliation processes. As reported by Standard Chartered, the institution is actively engaging with eligible institutional clients and partners to integrate HKDAP into their business activities, with plans to launch tokenised money market fund subscriptions and settlements with leading international and local asset managers in the fourth quarter.
As reported by Standard Chartered, the bank expects to introduce a number of new commercial applications over the coming months, laying the foundation for broader adoption and supporting the development of Hong Kong's digital asset ecosystem. Being the largest shareholder of Anchorpoint, Standard Chartered has been working closely with its subsidiary to bring to market a diverse range of real-world use cases that leverage HKDAP's native 24/7 capabilities as a programmable and interoperable on-chain settlement instrument. Initial use cases span tokenised money market fund subscription and settlement, intragroup settlement activities to facilitate treasury and liquidity management, as well as cross-border payments, where tokenised money can reduce operational friction while improving capital mobility and transaction predictability. These pilots will serve as a blueprint for other institutional clients seeking to optimise their commercial activities with on-chain stablecoin, particularly multinational corporations looking to enhance cross-border application, which will reinforce Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial and corporate treasury centre. According to AMBCrypto, HKDAP would not eliminate foreign exchange, regulation, or banking intermediaries in every transaction, but could streamline money movement and settlement where participating parties and jurisdictions support it.
