Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) has become the first bank authorised to distribute HKDAP, a regulated stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and issued by Anchorpoint Financial. The bank announced the move on August 24, placing its emphasis on commercial payments, settlement and treasury operations rather than on retail investors.
A bank with a stake in its own stablecoin
HKDAP is issued by Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture set up by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands, with Standard Chartered as the largest shareholder. That ownership structure gives the bank a direct interest in the stablecoin's success, and it is now the first bank to sign on as an initial authorised distributor.
For Standard Chartered, the move is less about consumer crypto and more about making corporate workflows smoother. The bank sees HKDAP as a tool for moving money inside companies, across borders, and into tokenised funds.
Three use cases, one focus
The bank outlined three areas where HKDAP will initially apply: tokenised money market fund subscriptions and settlement, internal corporate settlement and liquidity management, and cross-border payments. During the fourth quarter of 2026, Standard Chartered plans to introduce HKDAP-based subscriptions and settlements for tokenised money market funds with international and Hong Kong asset managers.
That Q4 push suggests the bank is already lining up institutional clients, though it hasn't named any. The stablecoin's role in cross-border payments could prove useful for multinationals that need to move Hong Kong dollars quickly without waiting on traditional rails.
Licensing groundwork
HKDAP operates under Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance, which came into effect on August 1, 2025, and created a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers. In April 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted the first issuer licences to Anchorpoint Financial and HSBC. Both were cleared to issue stablecoins, but only Standard Chartered has announced that it will distribute the coin.
That gives the bank a head start in the city's regulated stablecoin market, even as HSBC holds an issuer licence and could follow with its own distribution plans.
Retail stays on hold
Anchorpoint began the first phase of the HKDAP rollout on August 12, with access limited to institutional distributors and professional investors. The company could open the stablecoin to retail users as early as the end of 2026, but that depends on market conditions. For now, Standard Chartered's sales pitch is to corporate treasurers and fund managers, not to the average crypto app user.
The next concrete step is the planned Q4 launch of tokenised money market fund subscriptions. Whether retail access arrives this year or slips, the bank's move marks a rare case of a traditional lender putting a stablecoin at the centre of its payment plans.
