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ARTICLE · 10 JULY 2025

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Hong Kong's New Stablecoin Licensing And Regulatory Regime

Davis Polk & Wardwell
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On May 21, 2025, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Stablecoins Ordinance, establishing a regulatory regime for the issuance, offering and marketing of stablecoins in Hong Kong.

Hong KongTechnology
Lok Cheung
Lok Cheung
Li He
Li He
Bo Huang
Bo Huang
Samuel Kang
Samuel Kang
Sophie Ng
Sophie Ng
Martin Rogers
Martin Rogers
Xi Shi
Xi Shi
Miranda So
Miranda So
Yuan Zheng
Yuan Zheng

On May 21, 2025, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Stablecoins Ordinance, establishing a regulatory regime for the issuance, offering and marketing of stablecoins in Hong Kong. This Ordinance will come into effect on August 1, 2025.

1. Introduction and legislative history

This regulatory regime was first proposed in a discussion paper published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on crypto-assets and stablecoins in January 2022 and which concluded in January 2023. Joint consultation papers and consultation conclusions on the legislative proposal for implementing the regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers were then put forth by the HKMA and the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau in December 2023 and July 2024 respectively.

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