Hong Kong Budget Details Stablecoin Issuer Licenses and Crypto Service Provider Regulation

• Hong Kong Financial Secretary said that the issuance of the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses will be in March in his 2026–27 Budget Speech.
• The budget confirms that to introduce a new bill to regulate digital asset dealers and custodians.
• The government has plans for advanced tokenised bond issuance and launching a digital asset platform.

Hong Kong is continuing to advance its digital asset plans, as it confirms that stablecoin issuer licenses are set to be issued in March, and a new bill is planned to expand oversight of crypto service providers.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, delivered his 2026-2027 budget speech, where he covered the digital asset area, stating that the government aims to develop Hong Kong into a global hub for digital asset innovation through regulatory framework and mentioned, “We will introduce a bill this year to establish licensing regimes for, among others, digital asset dealing and custodian service providers.”

The budget stressed that the government has implemented the fiat-pegged stablecoins licensing regime for issuers of and confirmed that those licences will be issued in the upcoming month. With that, the budget mentioned about liquidity issues, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will focus on enhancing liquidity and trying to provide more products and services for investors. 

Further, over the course of the next two years, Hong Kong will change its Inland Revenue Ordinance to incorporate the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and the modified Common Reporting Standard created by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in accordance with international norms. In the first half of this year, an amendment bill is anticipated. The program seeks to prevent cross-border tax avoidance involving crypto assets.

Tokenisation Push and Digital Market Infrastructure

In addition, the budget focuses on bringing traditional bond markets onto blockchain rails. Which will be like Traditional bonds can be issued on blockchain instead of a traditional registry. Further said, “We will also explore the adoption of electronic signatures for bond issuance documents and the digitalisation of bearer bonds.”

The subsidiary of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), CMU OmniClear Holdings Limited, which is responsible for the city’s central securities depository, will open a digital asset platform this year to support the issuance and settlement of digital bonds. Once opened, it gradually expands to cover other digital assets. With these extended strategies, the Hong Kong government is expanding its institutional digital asset infrastructure.

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