Standard Chartered First Bank Distributor of Regulated Hong Kong Stablecoin

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) has become the first bank to distribute HKDAP, a regulated Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Anchorpoint Financial. This move marks another step in Hong Kong's push to bring tokenised money into mainstream financial infrastructure.

The bank is focusing on commercial applications where an on-chain Hong Kong dollar could reduce settlement friction and allow transactions to operate outside traditional banking hours. Standard Chartered has identified three initial areas where it expects HKDAP to be used: tokenised money market fund subscriptions and settlement, internal corporate settlement and liquidity management, and cross-border payments.

Standard Chartered plans to introduce HKDAP-based subscriptions and settlements for tokenised money market funds with international and Hong Kong asset managers during the fourth quarter of 2026. The bank also intends to test intragroup settlement across its own network, which could provide an important proof of concept.