HSBC has launched RedCoin (RCHKD), the bank's first Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, enabling transfers and merchant payments through its widely used PayMe mobile payments app, according to an official announcement.

More than 3.3 million PayMe users will be able to activate stablecoin wallets in the app in the coming days, the bank announced Friday. The rollout extends a licensed Hong Kong dollar stablecoin from institution-focused offerings toward everyday payments for a mass consumer base.

RedCoin is designed to be redeemable one-for-one for Hong Kong dollars, with safekeeping services provided by HSBC Digital Assets Custody.

The consumer rollout follows Anchorpoint's launch of its HKDAP stablecoin through HashKey Exchange in August, an offering that initially targeted eligible institutions and professional investors. The two launches show Hong Kong's first licensed stablecoin issuers taking different distribution paths: exchange-based access for institutions versus a consumer app with an established payments user base.

HSBC received its stablecoin issuer license in April alongside Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture backed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT. The two firms were the first companies approved under Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory framework, which has since moved from initial approvals to live stablecoin circulation.

The bank said it plans to introduce RedCoin wallets to its HSBC HK Mobile Banking App later this year, allowing customers to subscribe to tokenized investment products, including a new share class of its Hong Kong dollar money market fund. HSBC also plans to expand RedCoin beyond retail use into wholesale corporate and institutional applications, a roadmap that stretches the stablecoin from everyday payments into the wholesale side of the city's financial system.

Related: Malaysia, Thailand join Singapore's cross-border stablecoin push

Source: Cointelegraph