Hong Kong Stablecoin Market Gains Momentum as HashKey Distributes Anchorpoint’s HKDAP
HashKey Exchange has become an authorized distributor for Anchorpoint Financial's HKDAP stablecoin, marking a significant expansion of Hong Kong's regulated digital currency infrastructure as institutions gain access to the Hong Kong dollar-backed asset.
Hong Kong’s regulatory framework for digital currency continues to mature as HashKey Exchange officially began distributing Anchorpoint’s HKDAP stablecoin through an institutional beta phase. The partnership represents a significant milestone for the city’s push to establish a licensed, regulated stablecoin ecosystem backed by the Hong Kong dollar, with broad potential applications ranging from institutional payments to cross-border settlement.
Building Institutional Stablecoin Infrastructure
Anchorpoint Financial, a Hong Kong-licensed stablecoin issuer, added HashKey Exchange as an authorized distributor for its Hong Kong dollar-pegged digital asset, HKDAP (an acronym for HKD At Par). The arrangement initiates a controlled beta rollout targeting eligible institutions and professional investors, providing them access to the regulated stablecoin through HashKey and additional supported distribution channels. HashKey has already completed its first HKDAP transactions involving both minting and redemption, with participating clients able to move seamlessly between fiat and stablecoin forms through HashKey’s infrastructure.
The issuer itself represents a strategic combination of expertise from three major sectors: banking, telecommunications, and entertainment. Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), telecommunications operator HKT, and blockchain-focused Animoca Brands established Anchorpoint as a joint venture. This consortium successfully received its stablecoin issuer license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, positioning it among the first entities licensed to operate within Hong Kong’s newly established regulatory framework for stablecoins. The partners have communicated intentions to gradually expand distribution of HKDAP to additional institutions and to develop new use cases for the stablecoin, with particular focus on cross-border payment flows, financial settlement operations, and integration with tokenized financial instruments.
Market Potential and Competitive Landscape
Hong Kong’s regulated stablecoin market represents a compelling growth opportunity as the infrastructure supporting digital currency matures. According to research from Citi published in 2025, as reported by Cointelegraph, the circulation of Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoins could potentially reach $16 billion as adoption deepens and regulatory maturity increases. For perspective, the global stablecoin market remains heavily dominated by US dollar-denominated tokens, with alternative offerings—particularly those pegged to other fiat currencies—still representing a relatively small segment of total activity.
The stablecoin sector at large continues to demonstrate substantial growth momentum. Bernstein’s analysis, as reported by Cointelegraph, documented that USDC and USDT combined processed approximately $3.8 trillion in adjusted transaction volume during the first quarter of 2026, underscoring stablecoins’ increasingly central role in both institutional and decentralized finance operations. That said, comprehensive data on Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin circulation and actual user adoption remains limited, creating uncertainty about the market’s present scale and near-term growth trajectory.
Significance for Digital Finance and Crypto Markets
The establishment of regulated, fiat-backed stablecoins in major financial centers strengthens institutional participation in blockchain infrastructure and enhances technological credibility across digital asset markets. As regulatory authorities in Asia’s premier financial hubs embrace stablecoin frameworks through formal licensing regimes, they create practical pathways for more efficient cross-border settlement, deeper institutional integration with blockchain systems, and broader mainstream acceptance of digital currency infrastructure.
For cryptocurrency markets including XRP, this development demonstrates accelerating mainstream legitimization of blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Source: Anchorpoint Financial, via Cointelegraph. Not financial advice.