HSBC, one of the world's largest international banking groups, has unveiled HSBC RedCoin as the official name of its planned Hong Kong stablecoin.

The token will initially support peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant transactions, with corporate and institutional use cases to follow, the bank said in a Sept. 20 announcement — a sequence that places everyday consumer payments ahead of corporate and institutional services. Stablecoins are blockchain-based tokens designed to maintain a stable value against a reference asset, most commonly a fiat currency.

The plans are backed by a survey of more than 1,000 Hong Kong customers, 74% of whom recognized at least one stablecoin use case. Of those surveyed, 57% associated stablecoins with digital asset trading and tokenized investments, while 53% cited P2P transfers. Cross-border remittances and merchant payments were each recognized by 52% — results that line up with the token's initial P2P and merchant-payment focus.

The survey also revealed gaps in public understanding. HSBC said 60% of respondents correctly identified stablecoins as fiat-backed digital assets, though 26% believed they were government-issued and 10% viewed them as interest-bearing.

In response, HSBC plans to provide public education through its banking apps, website and social media, with a focus on scam awareness and transparent redemption.

The move extends HSBC's broader development of digital asset capabilities across markets, including stablecoin initiatives and tokenized financial products. In the United Kingdom, HSBC UK and its banking peers are testing tokenized sterling deposits in live customer transactions. The pilots, conducted through UK Finance's Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative, explored how programmable payments could improve settlement and reduce transaction risks. Read together, the two efforts show the bank pursuing blockchain-based payments through separate structures: a stablecoin aimed at consumer payments in Hong Kong and tokenized bank deposits in the UK.