Standard Chartered is among the firms picked to join Hong Kong's new stablecoin issuer sandbox. The announcement comes a day after the island's regulators said they will soon propose a regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers.
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) is joined by Animoca Brands, Jingdong Coinlink Technology Hong Kong, RD InnoTech, and Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sandbox.
HKMA says participants were chosen after demonstrating "genuine interest in developing a stablecoin issuance business in Hong Kong with a reasonable business plan".
Standard Chartered and other members can now carry out testing on their operational plans, benefiting from two-way communication on the proposed regulatory requirements.
Those regulatory requirements are coming into focus as HKMA and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau set out their consultation conclusions on the legislative proposal to implement a regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers.
Following a public consultation with more than 100 submissions, the pair now plan to put forward a legislative proposal "as soon as possible".
Eddie Yue, chief executive, HKMA, says: “We believe that a well-regulated environment is conducive to the sustainable and responsible development of the stablecoin ecosystem in Hong Kong.”