HSBC has launched RedCoin (RCHKD), its first Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, for transfers and shop payments through the PayMe app. More than 3.3 million users will be able to activate wallets holding the token in the coming days, the bank said on Friday, October 23.
According to Cointelegraph, the retail launch follows HKDAP from Anchorpoint. That token reached only institutions and professional investors in August.
How RedCoin will work
The token can be redeemed for Hong Kong dollars one for one. HSBC Digital Assets Custody handles safekeeping of reserves and keys. The wallet sits inside PayMe, so users need neither a separate app nor an exchange account.
The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar in a band of 7.75-7.85 per US dollar. RedCoin should move against the dollar within roughly the same range.
The license and the rival in this niche
HSBC received its stablecoin issuer license in April. Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture of Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT, got approval the same month. They were the first two companies cleared under Hong Kong's stablecoin rules.
Anchorpoint issued HKDAP through the HashKey Exchange. At first the token was meant for qualified institutions only. HSBC, by contrast, is going straight to millions of ordinary customers.
What the bank adds next
HSBC says PayMe is only the starting point. Three directions follow.
- RedCoin wallets in HSBC HK mobile banking later this year.
- Subscriptions to tokenized investment products, among them a new share class of a Hong Kong dollar money market fund.
- Wholesale use cases for corporate and institutional clients.
The bank gave no separate dates for each item.
Local tokens against dollar giants
The stablecoin market still rests on dollar-based USDT and USDC. Tokens in national currencies remain a niche, and RedCoin is the first attempt by a major bank to put such an instrument in front of millions of people inside an app they already use.
Asia is moving this way beyond Hong Kong as well. In the same days Malaysia and Thailand joined Singapore's cross-border stablecoin push, Cointelegraph reported.
Comments
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *