Standard Chartered-backed Anchorpoint declines to set a retail date for its HKD stablecoin
Victoria Shinder1 min readAnchorpoint, the Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin venture led by Standard Chartered with Animoca Brands and telecoms operator HKT, says it will not rush its retail launch, according to the South China Morning Post. The venture released an institutional stablecoin product in August and had previously suggested retail access could arrive as early as the end of 2026, but chief executive Dominic Maffei declined to confirm that timeline at a press conference, saying the company would take a prudent approach and build the market "in a long-term, sustainable manner." The caution follows HSBC launching its own Hong Kong dollar-backed coin, RedCoin, to the 3.3 million users of its PayMe app. Anchorpoint grew out of a partnership announced in February 2025, after the three companies took part in Hong Kong's stablecoin issuer sandbox in mid-2024.
What it means
The restraint is the story, and it runs against the usual incentive. A rival just put a HKD stablecoin in front of millions of consumer wallet users, and the conventional move would be to answer speed with speed. Choosing not to, and saying so publicly, signals that Anchorpoint reads retail stablecoins as a regulated-trust product rather than a land grab — which fits a consortium led by a bank operating inside a sandbox-to-licence regime, where a rushed launch that goes wrong is far more expensive than a late one. HSBC reaching 3.3 million PayMe users is the number that defines the competitive field; whether distribution or prudence wins in Hong Kong's HKD-stablecoin market is the question the next few quarters will answer. This is market news, not a recommendation about any token.