Hong Kong's stablecoin licensing strategy is to take small but quick steps.

Hong Kong's Licensing Strategy: 'Small Steps, Fast Pace' for Stablecoins

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the government's licensing strategy is one of "small steps, fast pace." The first batch will include only a small number of licenses, tied to real-world use cases. A second batch will only be issued after lessons are learned from the initial rollout.

Stablecoins and digital assets are forms of financial innovation, Chan said. They need encouragement to achieve breakthroughs, but safety must also be guarded. Mechanisms to prevent money laundering are essential, so appropriate regulation is necessary. Stablecoins offer benefits like decentralization and high efficiency, but they are a payment tool—not an investment vehicle.