Hong Kong's central bank issued a regulatory alert on April 28, 2025, warning that fake stablecoin tokens bearing the tickers 'HKDAP' and 'HSBC' had appeared on the market — despite neither being issued by a licensed stablecoin operator. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said the tokens have no connection to any authorized issuer under the city's Stablecoins Ordinance, which took effect in August 2025.
How the fake tokens surfaced
The warning arrives just over two weeks after the HKMA granted the very first stablecoin licenses to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial on April 10. Only two of 36 applicants — about 5.6% — made it through the approval process. But neither bank’s real stablecoin has reached a single consumer yet. HSBC plans to launch its Hong Kong dollar-denominated stablecoin in the second half of 2026, backed by high-quality liquid assets in segregated accounts and integrated into its PayMe platform (which has over 3.3 million users) and the HSBC HK Mobile Banking App. Anchorpoint, a joint venture backed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, and HKT, targets a phased rollout of its HKDAP token starting in the second quarter of 2026, with each token backed 1:1 by high-quality HKD-denominated reserves.
The fake tokens appeared in the window between the licensing announcement and actual product availability — a gap the HKMA had flagged as a risk as early as July 2025. At that time, the regulator warned that entities might falsely claim licensed status to lure investors.
Penalties under the Stablecoins Ordinance
Hong Kong's digital asset strategy relies heavily on public trust in its regulatory stamp of approval. The scam exploits that trust by using tickers that match the names of real licensed firms. Under the Stablecoins Ordinance, unauthorized issuance or false claims of licensed status carry a maximum fine of HK$5 million and up to seven years in prison.
What comes next
Both HSBC and Anchorpoint have yet to provide a specific date for when their tokens will actually hit wallets. The HKMA's April 28 alert makes clear that, for now, any token claiming to be an HSBC or Anchorpoint stablecoin is a fake. Investors are left waiting for the real products — and wondering whether more impostors will pop up before those launch.
