HSBC has launched its first stablecoin, HSBC RedCoin (RCHKD), in Hong Kong, saying in a Friday (Oct. 23) press release that it is built for everyday payments and transactions.
HSBC RedCoin is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), is Hong Kong dollar (HKD) denominated and became available on the bank’s digital wallet, PayMe, on Friday, according to the release.
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Once they activate a stablecoin wallet in-app, PayMe users will be able to use it to send stablecoins instantly to friends and family and to pay directly with stablecoins at more than 100,000 merchants, the release said.
“Money, assets and information are moving from traditional infrastructure to always-on, data-rich and increasingly programmable digital networks,” Maggie Ng, CEO, Hong Kong and head of retail banking and wealth, Hong Kong at HSBC, said in the release. “We have an opportunity to help customers in Hong Kong manage this shift with practical products and services that support the real economy, backed by the trust and security of a global bank.”
HSBC plans to expand these capabilities later this year to include stablecoin wallet functionality in the HSBC HK Mobile Banking App and the ability to subscribe to tokenized investment products via HSBC RedCoin, per the release.
“This is only the beginning,” John O’Neill, managing director, digital assets and currencies at HSBC, said in the release. “We will soon add more products, including expanding into wholesale corporate and institutional use cases.”
PYMNTS reported Oct. 1 that HSBC offers a Tokenized Deposit Service that allows participating corporate customers to convert deposits into digital tokens and move those funds between blockchain wallets in real time, 24/7. The tokens remain digital records underlying commercial-bank deposits rather than becoming separate crypto assets.
HSBC and Standard Chartered announced in August that they completed the first interbank transaction executed on Swift’s blockchain-based ledger. The companies said this live cross-border transaction demonstrated interbank operability and helped advance industry progress on 24/7 cross-border payments. By doing so, it marked a milestone in the use of tokenized deposits by regulated financial institutions to issue, transfer, record and settle tokenized deposits through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger, they said.
