Chen Weimin: The schedule for issuing the second batch of licenses has not yet been determined, and the total number of future licenses will be very limited.

ME News. On April 13 (UTC+8), Hong Kong Monetary Authority Deputy Chief Executive Chen Weimin said that the timetable for issuing the second batch of licenses has not yet been determined, as it will be set based on “the operating conditions of the first two licensees,” and the total number of licenses in the future will be very limited. In addition, sources said that Chinese-funded institutions that had been involved in submitting applications had all received “window guidance” from relevant authorities, instructing them to temporarily hold off on participating in this stablecoin license application, but some Chinese-funded institutions have continued to communicate with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority over the past few months. After excluding Chinese-funded institutions, the majority of the institutions planning to apply are relatively limited in strength, and the number of qualified institutions that can fully meet the requirements of the Stablecoin Regulations is not large.

Lee Kuan Hong, head of HSBC PayMe, who has received a license, told reporters that as long as they are PayMe users, they can open stablecoin accounts. Within a stablecoin account, users can directly transfer to friends and family, transfer to merchants, or invest in products linked to stablecoins. Users of the HSBC app cannot open accounts directly; they must wait until HSBC has screened out eligible users before applying for a stablecoin account. To open a PayMe account, users have already been required to be Hong Kong residents; HSBC app users also include users from the mainland. Under Hong Kong’s current regulatory framework, only Hong Kong residents can participate in virtual asset trading. Even if mainland clients are HSBC mobile payment users in Hong Kong, they cannot apply for a stablecoin account. (Source: Foresight News)