On 6 December 2024, the Hong Kong* Government published the highly anticipated Stablecoins Bill (Stablecoins Bill). On 18 December 2024, it was introduced into the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for First Reading.
In summary, the Stablecoins Bill contains three key components:
- Specified Stablecoin issuer licensing and requirements. Issuers of Specified Stablecoins in Hong Kong must obtain a licence from the HKMA and comply with comprehensive licensing requirements relating to, among other things, the issuer and its controller(s), its financial and other resources, the Specified Stablecoins it issues, the reserve assets and stabilisation mechanism supporting the Specified Stablecoins, and other requirements.
- Specified Stablecoin offering and marketing restrictions. Only certain regulated entities and platforms can offer Specified Stablecoins in Hong Kong or actively market them to the public of Hong Kong. Furthermore, only Specified Stablecoins that are issued by HKMA-licensed issuers can be offered to retail investors. Other Specified Stablecoins can only be offered if the offer falls within one of the available exemptions.
- Broader consumer protection, market integrity and other offences. These can affect a range of market participants – not just issuers and distributors.
This in-depth guide provides a detailed overview of Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Bill, with our observations based on our work with stablecoin issuers, digital asset platforms and industry groups over many years.
*In this article, “Hong Kong” or “HK” means the “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China”, and “PRC” or “China Mainland” means the People’s Republic of China, excluding Hong Kong, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan.
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