Hong Kong and mainland China are moving to hardwire blockchain into the arteries of cross-border trade, deepening financial integration between the two hubs in what could become one of Asia’s most ambitious digital infrastructure projects.

Hong Kong is set to issue its first stablecoin licences in March 2026, following the new Stablecoins Ordinance. The city is also expanding crypto market rules and tokenisation projects while China remains cautious about cryptocurrency activity.

Hong Kong is on the verge of a historic milestone in regulated crypto adoption. The city’s financial regulator, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), is preparing to grant the first-ever stablecoin licenses as early as March 2026, signaling the territory’s ambition to become a safe, regulated hub for digital assets.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Investment Management has officially launched the Hang Seng Gold ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, offering investors direct exposure to physical gold for the first time.

Hang Seng is launching a new gold ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with both regular shares and tokenized units on blockchain. The fund holds physical gold in Hong Kong and aims to attract both traditional and crypto investors.

Hong Kong plans to issue its first stablecoin licences in the first quarter of 2026 as part of its wider push to develop a regulated crypto ecosystem. The city already licences cryptocurrency trading platforms and has been advancing tokenisation projects, including green bonds and digital asset pilots.

Asset managers warn scrapping a long-standing threshold could turn cautious crypto exposure into a costly compliance hurdle, undermining institutional adoption.

Hong Kong’s regulator fined Saxo Capital Markets HK HK$4 million for letting retail clients trade 32 complex crypto products that should only have been available to professional investors. The breaches ran from 2018 to 2022 and were caused by weak internal controls and missed checks on product risk and client knowledge.

Hong Kong’s insurance regulator plans to allow insurers to hold cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, with strict capital rules. The proposal also offers incentives for insurers investing in local infrastructure projects.

Hong Kong Prosecutors have asked for more time to organize the sprawling evidence collected during the two-year investigation.