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 report: On April 13 (UTC+8), Hong Kong Monetary Authority Deputy Chief Executive Chen Weimin said that the schedule for issuing the second batch of licenses has not yet been determined, as it needs to be set “based on the operating performance of the first two licensees,” and the total number of licenses in the future will be very limited. In addition, sources revealed that Chinese-funded institutions that had previously submitted applications all received “window guidance” from relevant authorities, instructing them to temporarily refrain from participating in this stablecoin license application, though some Chinese-funded institutions continued to communicate with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority over the past few months. After excluding Chinese-funded institutions, most of the institutions planning to apply have comparatively limited strength, and the number of qualified institutions that can fully meet the requirements of the Stablecoin Ordinance is not large.

Lee Kuan Hong, head of HSBC PayMe, who has obtained a license, told reporters that as long as the user is a PayMe user, they can enable a stablecoin account. Within a stablecoin account, users can directly transfer funds to friends and family, transfer funds to merchants, or invest in products linked to stablecoins. Users of the HSBC app, however, cannot enable a stablecoin account directly; they must wait until HSBC has selected qualifying users before applying for a stablecoin account. PayMe account opening has required users to be Hong Kong residents, and 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; mainland clients—even if they are HSBC bank mobile payment users in Hong Kong—cannot apply for stablecoin accounts. (Source: Foresight News)