A stablecoin license has just been issued— the Hong Kong Monetary Authority warns: there are scams impersonating HSBC and “deposit points” to issue tokens!

Hong Kong’s first batch of stablecoin issuer licensees were just obtained by HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, but the market has already seen fake tokens impersonating the codes “HSBC” and “HKDAP.”

In early April this year, Hong Kong issued its first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses, with HSBC Bank and Anchorpoint Financial taking the lead. However, just as the public eagerly awaited, scam groups had already moved into action. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently warned that fake tokens have appeared in the market, falsely claiming to be related to 2 licensed issuers, and urged investors to stay alert.

The HKMA said on Tuesday that there are currently tokens in the market using the codes “HKDAP” or “HSBC,” but those tokens are not issued by licensed stablecoin issuers, and have no relation to the issuers.

The HKMA noted that both HSBC Bank and Anchorpoint Financial have stated that they have not issued any regulated stablecoins. It therefore called on the public to remain vigilant to guard against any fraudulent activities and scams that falsely use the names of licensed institutions or claim to be related to their stablecoins.

Meanwhile, HSBC Bank and Anchorpoint Financial also issued separate statements, strongly denying any connection to these tokens, and clarifying that they have not launched any stablecoins in Hong Kong.

HSBC Bank said that it plans to launch a Hong Kong-dollar-pegged stablecoin in the second half of this year. At that time, it will provide the service via PayMe and HSBC Hong Kong’s mobile wealth management app. Anchorpoint Financial previously revealed that it expects to start rolling out its own stablecoin “HKDAP” in stages starting from the second quarter of this year.

Earlier, BlockBeats reported that “Anchorpoint Financial (Anchorpoint Financial)” is a joint venture jointly established by Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong, Hong Kong Telecom, and the Hong Kong Web3 company Animoca Brands (Animoca Brands), with the aim of building a business model focused on “issuing and promoting regulated stablecoins.”

Since July 2024, Animoca Brands, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Telecom have teamed up to participate in the stablecoin issuer “sandbox” launched by the HKMA, jointly exploring how stablecoins can play a key role in the development of the financial and payments markets by combining Web3 with traditional finance—thereby strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a global digital asset hub.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: BlockBeats
• Original title: “Fake Tokens Impersonate HSBC and Anchorpoint Stablecoins! HKMA Urges: Stay Vigilant and Avoid Scams”
• Original author: Block Sister MEL