Standard Chartered-Backed Anchorpoint Says It Is Not Rushing a Retail Stablecoin Launch
Key Takeaways
- •Anchorpoint, a joint venture of Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT, declined to confirm a retail launch timeline for its Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, stepping back from a prior indication that retail access could arrive by the end of 2026.
- •CEO Dominic Maffei said the venture will take a prudent approach, emphasizing that building the market in a long-term, sustainable manner matters more than rushing a launch.
- •HSBC launched its HKD-backed RedCoin on Friday, making it available to the 3.3 million users of its PayMe app and moving directly into retail distribution.
- •Anchorpoint released its institutional stablecoin product in August and has so far restricted access to institutional and Web3 use cases, in contrast to HSBC's consumer-first rollout.
- •Hong Kong now requires issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins to obtain a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the framework under which early movers HSBC, HashKey and Anchorpoint are making their rollout decisions.
Standard Chartered-backed stablecoin venture Anchorpoint said it will take a cautious approach to opening its Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin to retail users, declining to confirm a launch timeline after rival HSBC rolled out RedCoin, according to the South China Morning Post.
The Standard Chartered and Animoca Brands joint venture released its institutional stablecoin product in August and previously indicated that a retail offering could arrive as early as the end of 2026. But speaking at a Friday press conference, Anchorpoint CEO Dominic Maffei declined to reaffirm that schedule, saying the company would take a prudent approach.
"We believe it's important to build the market out in a long-term, sustainable manner," Maffei said, adding that rushing a launch "does not make sense."
The update came shortly after HSBC launched its Hong Kong dollar-backed RedCoin on Friday, making it available to the 3.3 million users of the bank's PayMe app. While HSBC moved straight to retail distribution, Anchorpoint has so far limited its stablecoin to institutional use. The divergent rollouts illustrate two distinct sequencing strategies in Hong Kong's stablecoin market: one leaning on an established consumer payments base, the other building from institutional and Web3 use cases before widening access.
Anchorpoint grew out of a partnership between Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and telecommunications provider HKT that was announced in February 2025. The three companies first joined forces through their participation in Hong Kong's stablecoin issuer sandbox, launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in July 2024 to let participants test fiat-referenced stablecoin issuance. Under the arrangement, Animoca Brands contributes its blockchain expertise and industry network, helping develop use cases for the stablecoin across the Web3 ecosystem.
Hong Kong has since moved to formalize its stablecoin framework, requiring issuers of fiat-referenced tokens to obtain a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. That framework is the backdrop against which the territory's early movers — HSBC, HashKey and Anchorpoint — are making their rollout decisions. Other issuers are also advancing: HashKey has begun beta distribution of the Hong Kong-regulated HKDAP stablecoin. How quickly each issuer widens access, and whether Anchorpoint sets a firm retail timeline, are the near-term markers to watch in Hong Kong's developing stablecoin landscape.
Further details on the venture are available on Anchorpoint's official website.
Source: Cointelegraph, original reporting by Felix Ng and Yohan Yun.
