More than ten brokerages debated "stablecoins" for 48 hours, as new regulations in Hong Kong ignite a new battleground in the financial sector.

Written by: Abu, visiting Blockchain

Almost overnight, the spotlight in the financial world suddenly shifted to “stablecoins.”

From May 29 to 30, within just 48 hours, a series of brokerage roadshow meetings related to the keyword “stablecoin” emerged intensively. On the JMR Finance platform, more than a dozen leading brokerages, including CITIC Securities, Guotai Junan, Haitong Securities, China Merchants Securities, Guojin Securities, Dongwu Securities, Western Securities, and Guosheng Securities, competed to speak out, with a total of 13 related meetings held over two days. Institutions like CICC and GF Securities have also scheduled agendas and will continue to focus on this theme in the coming days.

The capital market is reacting. In the A-share and Hong Kong stock markets, stablecoin concept stocks surged across the board: Lianlian Digital rose nearly 45% in a single day, Xiongdi Technology had a maximum increase of 44% over two days, and companies like Hailian Jinhui, Longxin Group, and Zhongan Online also followed suit. The stablecoin concept, which had been quiet for many years, suddenly became the focus of capital pursuit in May.

Hong Kong Legislative Breakthrough: The World’s First Comprehensive Regulatory Framework for Stablecoins Implemented

The core engine of this capital frenzy comes from a piece of legislation in Hong Kong.

In late May, the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region officially passed the “Stable Coin Regulation Draft” (The implementation of the Hong Kong “Stable Coin Regulation”: a new paradigm of global finance under compliance and opportunities for digital RMB), becoming the first jurisdiction in the world to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for fiat stablecoins. According to the draft, any institution issuing fiat stablecoins in Hong Kong in the future must apply for a license from the Financial Commissioner, and only stablecoins issued by licensed institutions can be sold to retail investors. The Hong Kong SAR government’s Shanghai office publicly confirmed that the bill is expected to take effect within this year.

“This is by no means a simple regional policy, but a milestone in restructuring global cryptocurrency regulations,” a broker analyst who participated in multiple roadshows told reporters. “Hong Kong has given stablecoins a ‘legal status’ with a clear regulatory framework, directly activating market expectations for compliant development.”

The “invisible champion” of cross-border payments: $27.6 trillion in transaction volume surpasses the total of Visa and Mastercard. During a series of intensive roadshows by brokerages, a shocking piece of data was repeatedly mentioned: a report from Dongwu Securities cited a report from CEX.IO showing that the total transfer volume of global stablecoins has exceeded $27.6 trillion in 2024—this figure even surpasses the combined annual transaction volume of traditional payment giants Visa and Mastercard.

“While people are still discussing the ups and downs of Bitcoin, stablecoins have quietly reshaped the global payment ecosystem,” pointed out an analyst from Guotai Junan during a conference call. Its low fees and instantaneous settlement technical features demonstrate overwhelming advantages in scenarios such as cross-border remittances and DeFi lending. Especially for the internationalization of the Renminbi, stablecoins may become a new tool to break through the traditional SWIFT system.

It is worth noting that “RWA” (Real World Asset Tokenization) has become a frequently mentioned term alongside stablecoins. Chen Chen, an ecological partner at Hong Kong Victory Securities, explained to reporters: “Stablecoins serve as the ‘currency anchor’ for on-chain transactions, while RWA acts as the ‘value anchor’ connecting physical assets— the former requires real asset backing to establish trust, while the latter relies on stablecoins for liquidity, creating a closed-loop ecosystem for digital finance.”

Cool Reflection Amidst the Carnival: Concept Speculation or Trend Revolution?

Despite the high enthusiasm of capital, there are still sober voices in the market.

“Some individual stocks have already risen beyond the support of their fundamentals.” A private equity fund manager admitted to reporters that many so-called “concept stocks” in the A-share market have questionable connections to stablecoin core businesses, while the real technology players are still concentrated in banks and leading technology companies.

Regulatory risks cannot be ignored. While the Hong Kong version of the “Stablecoin Bill” is being advanced, the U.S. “GENIUS Act” has also made progress in the Senate, and the global regulatory framework is still in a period of intense competition. Meanwhile, the news that Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC, has launched an IPO to raise $624 million not only indicates an increase in industry maturity but also implies concerns about valuation bubbles.

The market welcomes a critical juncture amid excitement and skepticism: as Hong Kong’s regulatory sandbox opens its doors, stablecoins finally move from the gray area to the center of the financial stage. The trillion-level pain points of cross-border payments and the strategic demand for the internationalization of the Renminbi endow this technological revolution with profound significance beyond the realm of cryptocurrencies.

However, historical experience warns us that any financial innovation must navigate through the fog of “concept hype” to settle real value. The implementation of the Hong Kong bill is imminent this year, and the global regulatory framework is accelerating its collision, leaving a shrinking time window for market participants—only those companies that truly master core technologies and deeply cultivate compliant scenarios are likely to emerge as the final winners in this digital financial transformation.

The Cold Eye of the Crypto Veteran: Is Institutional FOMO Entering the Market, Ending the Grassroots Era?

“When the suit-and-tie investment bank manager starts talking about stablecoins, I know this industry has completely changed.” Crypto asset market maker Lucas Chen posted this message in a Telegram group, accompanied by a wry smile emoji. This seasoned player, who has experienced three cycles of bull and bear markets, has witnessed the transformation of stablecoins from geek toys to financial infrastructure.

Player Perspective: From Grassroots Carnival to Institutional Battlefield

“In 2017, we used USDT just to evade exchange audits. Now, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is actually going to issue licenses for stablecoins.” Lucas showed reporters his on-chain wallet, where six types of stablecoin assets are automatically arbitraging across DeFi protocols, “but the new regulations mean that we ‘wild’ players will eventually be brought in.”

His concerns are not without basis. The Hong Kong “Stablecoin Regulation Draft” clearly requires issuers to meet traditional financial standards such as capital adequacy ratio and reserve asset custody, which precisely strikes at the Achilles’ heel of decentralized stablecoins. A developer of an anonymous DeFi protocol admitted: “Currently, over-collateralized stablecoins like DAI cannot meet Hong Kong’s liquidity requirements; they either need to reform or exit.”

And more profound changes are happening at the user level. Sheldon Xia, founder of BitMart Labs, told reporters that the proportion of corporate accounts among the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin deposit users on its exchange soared from 12% at the beginning of the year to 37% in May: “Cross-border trading companies are using stablecoins to pay suppliers, and a single transaction can save 3% of the exchange cost and two days - this is the real business need, which is more vitality than speculation.”

The persistence of technology believers: the real revolution is on the blockchain.

“Don’t be confused by the concept stocks hyped up by brokers,” said Alan Zhou, CTO of Web3 infrastructure company Term Labs, during an AMA event in the crypto community. “The core value of stablecoins lies in whether they can become the ‘blood’ of the Web3 world, and what is currently regulated in Hong Kong is just a ‘blood transfusion bag.’”

He presented a set of comparative data: currently, 27.6 trillion dollars in stablecoin transfers, centralized exchange transfers account for as high as 76%, while those truly used for smart contracts and decentralized trading are less than 15%. “It’s like using high-speed trains to transport bottled water — the technological potential is severely wasted. Only when stablecoins are deeply integrated into DeFi protocols like Compound and Aave, achieving automated clearing for on-chain lending and derivatives trading, can we consider the evolution of the financial paradigm to be complete.”

This statement resonated strongly within the crypto community. A developer showcased a new stablecoin code based on the ERC-7231 standard, allowing users to bind tokens to real asset income rights such as real estate and government bonds while maintaining a dollar peg. “The Hong Kong bill is just the starting point; when RWA deeply integrates with stablecoins on-chain, that will be the true moment of ‘chain reform’ for traditional finance.”

The collision between the old and new worlds is inevitable: on one side, analysts excitedly proclaim the “cross-border payment blue ocean” during broker conference calls, while on the other side, crypto natives are wary of the “colonization” by institutional capital; on one side, lawmakers cautiously build regulatory sandboxes, while on the other side, developers rush at the forefront of code reconstruction.

As bankers in Central Hong Kong and geeks in Sham Shui Po gaze at stablecoins, they may see two entirely different sides - but history tells us that what truly drives technological revolutions is often the sparks that fly when these two sides collide. With Circle’s listing on the NYSE in June, the countdown begins for the issuance of Hong Kong’s first stablecoin licenses; this experiment concerning the future of finance has only just begun.