Hong Kong's recent stablecoin licensing decisions indicate that the digital finance sector will be strictly controlled by major banks. Regulators have positioned Hong Kong not as a crypto experimentation hub, but as a highly credible financial center.

The most revealing fact about Hong Kong’s stablecoin launch is not that licences were issued. It is who got them, and who did not. By handing the first approvals to HSBC and the Standard Chartered-led joint venture Anchorpoint Financial, regulators made clear from the start that digital money in Hong Kong will be bank-led. That choice matters because Hong Kong is not trying to become Asia’s easiest venue for cryptocurrency experimentation. Rather, it is trying to become the most credible place.....