Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) said it has become the first bank authorized to distribute HKDAP, a regulated Hong Kong dollar stablecoin issued by Anchorpoint Financial. The move expands access beyond crypto exchanges and gives selected institutional and corporate clients a bank channel to obtain the token.
The lender also outlined early uses for HKDAP, including settlement of tokenized money market funds from the fourth quarter of 2026, along with potential applications in intragroup transfers and cross-border payments. The stablecoin remains small for now, with 522,000 tokens in circulation as of August 19, according to Anchorpoint transparency data.
A bank-led distribution channel
HKDAP, or “HKD At Par,” is designed to redeem one-for-one for Hong Kong dollars. Before Standard Chartered’s announcement, the token had been available only through crypto exchanges. The bank said its distribution role will provide eligible clients with a more familiar and regulated access point.
Anchorpoint Financial, the issuer of HKDAP, is a joint venture created in February 2025 by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT, and Animoca Brands. Standard Chartered is the largest shareholder in the venture, and the bank’s trustee also holds the reserve assets backing the stablecoin, placing the lender at the center of the project’s structure.
Planned uses start with fund settlement
Standard Chartered said it intends to use HKDAP to settle tokenized money market funds starting in Q4 2026. That plan points to a narrow initial focus on institutional workflows rather than broad consumer payments.
The bank also said it wants to test the stablecoin for internal transfers across its global network, with the aim of improving liquidity management across borders, including outside regular banking hours. Cross-border payments were identified as another possible use case, though those applications remain plans rather than fully deployed services.
Small scale so far during beta access
Anchorpoint’s published data for August 19 showed 522,000 HKDAP in circulation and transaction volume of 658,160 during its Beta Access phase. The token runs on the Ethereum mainnet, and current access is limited to selected institutional and corporate users.
Anchorpoint has framed HKDAP as a tool for moving digital cash at blockchain speed, particularly for large business transactions. The latest bank distribution step gives the project a new route to market, but the circulation figures show it is still at an early stage.
How it fits into Hong Kong’s stablecoin market
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted its first two stablecoin issuer licenses in April 2026 to Anchorpoint and HSBC. That set up an early competitive landscape in which the two groups appear to be pursuing different audiences.
Standard Chartered and Anchorpoint are prioritizing corporate and institutional adoption first. HSBC, by contrast, has said it plans to launch its own Hong Kong dollar stablecoin in the second half of 2026 and may connect it to its PayMe app, potentially giving it a wider retail reach. Retail access to HKDAP is possible by the end of 2026, according to the source article, but for now the confirmed next step is Standard Chartered’s planned Q4 2026 rollout for tokenized money market fund settlement.
Source: Cryptopolitan