Hong Kong Stablecoin Licences and Virtual Card Top-ups

Audit update — 19 September 2026: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) register lists Anchorpoint Financial Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited as licensed stablecoin issuers, licence numbers FRS01 and FRS02, both effective 10 April 2026. HKMA’s same-day notice says the two licensees intend to complete necessary preparation work and launch business in the coming months. Issuer licensing does not establish that a particular token is retail-available, live on a particular chain, or accepted for top-ups by any virtual-card platform.

What this means for virtual-card users

The former claims that HKDAP had phased launch, bank-branch distribution, retail availability, spending data and a future timeline could not be fully verified in current HKMA or issuer primary material and are withdrawn. Availability or use of any HKD stablecoin must be checked separately for issuer, token contract/chain, distribution channel, regional eligibility, KYC, conversion terms and the logged-in card-platform funding page.

Scam prevention and verification

1. Use the HKMA licensed-stablecoin-issuer register to verify the legal issuer and licence status.
2. Do not treat “Hong Kong licensed,” “HKD stablecoin,” or a same-name token as proof of top-up compatibility.
3. Stablecoins, platform balances and cross-border payments carry price, redemption, compliance and loss risks; start with only a small affordable test.

Official sources: HKMA Register of Licensed Stablecoin Issuers: https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/regulatory-resources/registers/register-of-licensed-stablecoin-issuers; HKMA notice, 10 April 2026: https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/04/20260410-4.