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Hong Kong to Award First Stablecoin Licenses in March, Expand to Dealers & Custodians

Hong Kong confirms first stablecoin licenses will be awarded in March 2026. Financial Secretary Paul Chan announces legislation for dealers and custodian service providers to broaden regulatory framework beyond existing rules for trading platforms. The city is racing to compete with Singapore and Dubai for regional crypto infrastructure business.

High impact🇭🇰 Hong KongStablecoinLicensingCustodyUSDTUSDC

APAC FINSTAB analysis

For APAC operators, this creates a high-impact signal around stablecoin, licensing, custody in Hong Kong. Protocols/assets in scope: USDT, USDC. Teams should monitor the original source, map the change to licensing, custody, disclosure, and market-access obligations, and update their jurisdiction playbooks before the next compliance review.

Compliance read-through: map this event to entity licensing, market-access, custody, disclosure, token listing, and operational-risk obligations before expanding or marketing in the affected jurisdiction.

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The Federal Reserve requested public comment on two proposals establishing a regulatory framework for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The proposals move issuer supervision, reserves, capital, redemption and reporting controls from statute into agency implementation.

High impact🇺🇸 United StatesRegulationStablecoinBankingUSDTUSDCUSD
APAC FINSTAB analysis → Original source ↗

SEC Vault Comments Put DeFi Management Discretion Under Adviser Scrutiny

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce's comments and Morpho's related vault classification debate put onchain vaults on a functional regulatory footing, distinguishing non-custodial structures from discretionary management. The boundary matters for adviser status, manager keys, strategy authority and user exit rights.

Medium impact🇺🇸 United States🌐 GlobalRegulationDeFiCustodyMORPHOETH
APAC FINSTAB analysis → Original source ↗

Bank Of Russia Allows Qualified Funds To Hold Cash-Settled Crypto Derivatives

The Bank of Russia expanded eligible assets for qualified-investor funds to include cash-settled derivatives linked to crypto prices after registration with the Justice Ministry. The rule creates a regulated fund channel for crypto exposure while keeping physical crypto delivery outside the permitted structure.

High impact🇷🇺 RussiaRegulationLicensingETFRUBBTCUSDT
APAC FINSTAB analysis → Original source ↗