Global bank HSBC has launched RedCoin, its first stablecoin, for public use.
Editorial
This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.
The coin is available in Hong Kong through the bank's PayMe channel, a P2P network for Hong Kong consumers.
The 3.3 million users of PayMe will be able to make payments to friends and merchants and, in the near future, will be able to invest in tokenised assets.
RedCoin is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and HKD denominated.
“Money, assets and information are moving from traditional infrastructure to always-on, data-rich and increasingly programmable digital networks," said Maggie Ng, CEO, Hong Kong and head of retail banking and wealth, Hong Kong, HSBC.
"We have an opportunity to help customers in Hong Kong manage this shift with practical products and services that support the real economy, backed by the trust and security of a global bank.”
HSBC also plans to add stablecoin wallet functionality to the HSBC HK mobile banking app and to enable tokenised investments including a soon-to-be-launched share class of HSBC's long-running HKD money market fund.
"This is only the beginning," said John O'Neill, managing director, digital assets and currencies, HSBC. "We will soon add more products, including expanding into wholesale corporate and institutional use cases. This is a big step forward for safe and widely available digital assets and currencies in Hong Kong.”