Authored by: Richard Mazzochi , Minny Siu , Urszula McCormack and Andrew Fei
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (“FSTB”) are proposing a licensing and regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins, which are cryptoassets that purport to maintain a stable value relative to one or more fiat currencies. The regime is intended to address the monetary policy, financial stability and investor protection concerns associated with fiat-referenced stablecoins while encouraging the responsible development of the virtual asset market in Hong Kong*. It builds on other key regimes, including the new licensing regime for virtual asset exchanges that went live on 1 June 2023.