Anchorpoint Financial Ltd said on Wednesday it has begun a phased rollout of its Hong Kong-dollar-pegged stablecoin to institutional distributors and professional investors, as it targets wider retail adoption as early as the end of this year.
The Standard Chartered-led joint venture with HKT and Animoca Brands said the first phase of the launch of HKDAP — or HKD At Par — will allow initial distributors and users to integrate the stablecoin into commercial applications. The move follows the minting of HKDAP and live transfer tests on a public blockchain in the second quarter.
Under the first phase, authorized distributors will offer conversion between HKDAP and fiat currencies for institutions, corporate users, and professional investors.
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Anchorpoint said it will initially focus on use cases that deliver tangible benefits in the real economy, including cross-border payments and the settlement and distribution of tokenized real-world assets.
The company also said that with its around-the-clock transfer and settlement capabilities, HKDAP has the potential to cut transaction time and costs for end users, while improving predictability, liquidity and operational efficiency.
It added that the rollout will support broader adoption of a cost-efficient, programmable and interoperable settlement instrument and extend its use beyond Hong Kong, helping lay the groundwork for the next phase of digital asset ecosystem growth across the Global South.
Anchorpoint and HSBC were granted the city’s first two stablecoin issuer licenses by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April.
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“HKDAP’s phase-one rollout marks a significant milestone in bringing regulated tokenized money into real-world applications,” said Gaurav Bagga, Standard Chartered chief financial officer for Hong Kong, Greater China and North Asia.
“As Hong Kong advances its digital assets agenda, we are pleased to bring together our banking heritage, international network and digital assets expertise to help build trusted market infrastructure, enable new cross-border opportunities and frictionless value transfer and settlement, further strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a leading international financial center,” he said.
Anchorpoint co-founder and CEO Dominic Maffei said the company’s immediate focus is on supporting commercial applications that demonstrate the value of regulated tokenized money in real-world settings, including payments and settlement.
Contact the writer at irisli@chinadailyhk.com
