π INSIGHT ARTICLE β JUNE 12
π¦ Stablecoins in Asia Are Becoming a Banking Business
Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea are all converging on a "bank-anchored" model but each in their own way, and all three are running into the same paradox.
π 3 very different versions of the same label:
ππ°
#HongKong β Only 2 licenses granted: HSBC and a Standard Chartered Animoca joint venture. TradFi holds the keys Web3 only gets a minority seat at the table.
π―π΅
#Japan β A tiered system open to banks, fintechs, and trust companies alike. Fintech (JPYC) actually launched first ahead of any bank back in October 2025.
π°π·
#SouthKorea β Gridlocked. The central bank wants banks to hold β₯51% ownership. The FSC and fintechs are pushing back hard. The bill is in parliament but going nowhere fast.
β οΈ The central paradox:
These frameworks exist partly to fight "digital dollarization" yet >98% of global stablecoins are USD-pegged. Users can swap local-currency coins into USDT in a few clicks on any DEX. Regulation controls who can issue, not why people want dollars.
π‘ Who actually wins?
Not whoever gets the license to mint but whoever owns the users and a real use case. HSBC isn't strong because it can issue an HKD coin. It's strong because it already has 3.3M PayMe users to pipe it into.
π The most important question isn't "who is allowed to issue?" it's "why would anyone hold local currency instead of USDT?"
Until a local-currency stablecoin can answer that, every license is a necessary condition but not a sufficient one.
π Full research:
π
cryptothreads.io/research/asβ¦
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