Chinese tech giants have paused plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong, after Beijing raised concerns about the rise of currencies controlled by the private sector.
Companies including Alibaba-backed Ant Group and ecommerce group JD.com had said over the summer they would participate in Hong Kong’s pilot stablecoin programme or issue virtual asset-backed products, such as tokenised bonds.
But they have since put their stablecoin ambitions on hold after receiving instructions from Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), not to move ahead, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.