First determine whether the client is buying coins or merely paying with coins it already holds
Stablecoin payment does not mean that every participant is issuing or selling stablecoins. A merchant accepting payment for its own goods, a platform quoting a price to customers for the sale of stablecoins, and a platform controlling a wallet and transferring funds on a customer's behalf are activities that should be analyzed separately. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's stablecoin licensing guidance states that an offer to provide depends on whether the business communications contain sufficient information about the coin type, terms and channels for the other party to decide to purchase. Payment buttons, quotations and automatic conversion functions should all be included in the review; it is not sufficient to review only the company's business scope.
Retail services are subject to two gates: "who may provide" and "which coins may be provided"
The Stablecoins Ordinance took effect on 1 August 2025. A 2025 Legislative Council reply by the Hong Kong Government states that permitted providers may provide regulated stablecoins issued under a Hong Kong licence to retail and professional investors; the provision of stablecoins other than such regulated stablecoins is limited to professional investors. "Professional investor" is defined under securities law and does not mean, in ordinary language, a "person who understands coins" or a "corporate client". Accordingly, corporate payment products should verify client eligibility and must not treat a corporate client's ticking a box on the registration page as sufficient.
Check the official register, and also check what the institution is actually permitted to do
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's current register of issuers already lists licensed institutions, so the earlier 2025 statement that "there are not yet any licensed issuers" can no longer be relied on. However, inclusion in the issuer list does not mean that all of an issuer's products, or coins of the same name sold by other institutions, are subject to the same regulation. It is advisable to verify the specific issuing entity, the coin type and the service arrangements, and at the same time to check the seller's own qualifications, business conditions and client onboarding, so as to avoid treating an issuer's licence as a qualification that a platform may borrow.
Test the entire chain using a merchant payment collection scenario
Assume that a platform receives stablecoins from customers on behalf of a Hong Kong merchant and then undertakes that the merchant will receive Hong Kong dollars. The team must explain item by item: whether the payer first buys coins from the platform; who controls the receiving wallet; who completes the conversion; who remits the Hong Kong dollars; and whether refunds are made in Hong Kong dollars or in the original coin. If the arrangement is changed so that the merchant contracts directly with a permitted institution and the platform only displays orders, the responsibilities and onboarding requirements may differ, but they must be consistent with actual operations. The official consultation conclusions on the new transaction and custody regimes should also be tracked separately and must not be treated in advance as licences already in effect or as existing exemptions.
Recommended actions
- Map, transaction by transaction, the paths for buying coins, payment, conversion, fiat settlement and refunds, and identify the transacting party at each stage.
- Check the issuer register and provider qualifications separately, and record the coin type, client scope and licensing conditions, rather than merely collecting screenshots of licences.
- Verify professional investor eligibility, or use coin types and channels suitable for retail clients, and do not substitute a corporate business licence for an eligibility assessment.
- Before launch, review the webpage, private chat and automated quotation processes, and establish a re-review mechanism for changes in currency or partner institutions.
Information note: This article provides general information and does not replace legal advice based on specific facts.
References
- Regulatory Regime for Stablecoin Issuers — Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- LCQ10: Regulation of digital assets, 10 September 2025 — Hong Kong Government
- Register of Licensees under the Stablecoins Ordinance — Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- Explanatory Note on Licensing of Stablecoin Issuers, section 2.9 — Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- FSTB and SFC conclude consultations on virtual asset dealer and custodian regimes, 24 December 2025 — Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau / Securities and Futures Commission
