The Hong Kong Monetary Authority failed to issue stablecoin licenses by the end of March as scheduled, with review delays caused by the high threshold requirements. In addition, state-linked enterprises such as Ant and JD.com have paused their applications due to mainland regulatory pressures, further affecting the approval timeline. The Monetary Authority did not provide a specific schedule, only stating that it is still moving forward with the licensing process.

Ant Group’s Shanghai Yunjin successfully acquired a 50.55% equity stake in Yao Cai Securities under the Ant Group umbrella. The transaction value was HK$2.814 billion, and it completed a reorganization of the board of directors. This move has been interpreted as Ant’s strategic layout in Hong Kong’s stablecoin market, indicating that it plans to expand digital financial services. The appointment of the newly added directors shows its intent to integrate Yao Cai into its global wealth management blueprint.

Hong Kong is about to issue its first batch of stablecoin licenses, with approved institutions including HSBC, joint venture Anchorpoint, and OSL Group. Regulators aim to ensure market stability through strict regulations, while Chinese companies such as Ant Group and JD.com are absent from this round of license competition due to policy constraints. This move will impact the global stablecoin regulatory landscape.

Author: Yuan Hong, Global Times On February 26, the China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and other departments jointly released the latest report showcasing how the United States leverages technological dominance to harvest global virtual currency assets. According to incomplete statistics, from 2022 to 2025, the U.S. has confiscated over $30 billion worth of global virtual currency assets through various cases, with the Chen Zhi case alone accounting for $15 billion, or 50% of the total. On the 26th, the China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, the National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention and Control Technology, as well as 360 Digital Security Group and Ant Technology Group Co., Ltd., jointly published "The 'Number One Player'—An In-Depth Analysis of the U.S. Technological Hegemony and Global Virtual Currency Asset Harvesting Operations." The report, combining typical cases such as the Chen Zhi case and Zhao Changpeng case, explores the background of blockchain technology and security risks, systematically analyzing how the U.S. exploits technological dominance to harvest global assets.

Written by: Liang Yu Edited by: Zhao Yidan In February 2026, Caixin published a major report titled "Strict Regulation of Overseas RWA," revealing the latest stance of regulatory authorities on cross-border issuance of Real World Assets (RWA). The report pointed out that "strict overseas regulation" is the overall tone established in the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation" (also known as "Document No. 42") issued jointly by nine departments in 2021. However, this tone does not mean a simple "one-size-fits-all" approach. According to sources familiar with regulatory policies, Hong Kong, as one of the overseas issuance locations for RWA, projects based on local assets are not within the regulatory scope of Document No. 42 and are not under the jurisdiction of domestic regulators. For RWA issued from domestic assets abroad, the regulatory logic has shifted from "all are prohibited" to "not all are prohibited," but they must comply with the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Ant Chain Technology President Bian Zhuoqun confirms participation in the 2026 Global Web3 Developer Conference. The company is dedicated to using AI and blockchain technology to serve over 10,000 enterprises. The conference will become a major side event of Hong Kong Consensus 2026, promoting blockchain project incubation in the Asia-Pacific region.

John Mo Po at Davos announced the issuance of the first Hong Kong stablecoin license in 2026, the first comprehensive regulation in Asia. The capital threshold is 25 million HKD, requiring equivalent reserves and daily disclosure. Standard Chartered, Ant, and JD.com are competing for deployment. The global stablecoin market cap is $328 billion. Regulatory focus is on reserve stability and cross-border risks.

Cache Wallet, a self-custody crypto wallet that allows users to have complete control over their cryptocurrency assets, today announced a strategic partnership with ANT-FUN, a DEX (decentralized exchange) platform that enables people to trade directly across numerous decentralized platforms. This pa

Standard Chartered and Ant International launch tokenized deposits in Hong Kong, enabling real-time liquidity, multi-currency transfers, and regulated blockchain-based treasury operations. Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong and Ant International have launched a real-time tokenized deposit

Gate Research Institute Daily Report: December 15 — The overall crypto market continues to face pressure, with BTC and ETH maintaining low-level consolidation, while GT shows relative resilience. Under the weak performance of mainstream coins, tokens such as FHE, ICE, and BAS have reversed trends and strengthened amid catalysts like privacy computing collaborations with Chainlink, token migrations and mainnet transitions, as well as ERC-8004 protocol upgrades, reflecting a concentrated battle for structural opportunities among funds. The structural selling pressure in the options market still suppresses BTC upside momentum. The divergence between ETF bullish demand and OG holders selling volatility suggests that BTC is more likely to remain in short-term consolidation rather than make rapid breakthroughs; Ant International is reconstructing corporate treasury management systems through blockchain, AI, and tokenized deposits; after the mainnet launch of Stable, on-chain activity has been below expectations, highlighting ongoing challenges for the differentiated implementation of stablecoin public chains.