(Source: Financial Magazine 2025-12-20)
As the world's major economies have successively promoted stablecoin and cryptocurrency legislation, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has become the forefront of China's cryptocurrency policy experiments and integration with international rules.
On the afternoon of July 17, 2025, local time, the United States passed stablecoin legislation—the "Guiding and Establishing the National Innovation Act for U.S. Stablecoins" (hereinafter referred to as the "GENIUS Act"). This is the first federal law in the United States specifically targeting payment-based stablecoins, providing a compliance path for the industry and also sending a clear signal to the world: the challenges and impact of encrypted digital currencies on global financial governance are related to profound changes in sovereign credit, the future shape of the monetary system, and the global governance model.
USA's "GENIUS" The bill mainly focuses on payment stablecoin compliance, reserve transparency, entity licenses, etc., and contains two core points: First, ensure that the dominance of the US dollar extends to the cryptocurrency field, so that the flow, transaction and settlement of global cryptocurrency are all conducted within the framework of the US dollar, which greatly consolidates the US dollar as a digital currency "plan". Second, stablecoin issuers need nearly 80% of their reserves to purchase short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, which is equivalent to creating a sustained and huge incremental demand from the digital currency field for the U.S. Treasury Department, expanding the demand base for U.S. Treasury bonds, and strengthening the U.S. government’s ability to issue debt.
This is different from the EU’s legislative thinking. Previously, on October 10, 2022 local time, the EU legislative body voted to pass the Cryptoasset Market Supervision Act (MiCA). The overall idea of MiCA is to "prevent risks" and pay more attention to systemic risks and transnational platform management and control. It mainly focuses on financial stability and monetary sovereignty, with the purpose of curbing the impact of large platforms on the regional monetary system.
The underlying logic of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China is to deeply anchor the US dollar standard, comply with US regulatory developments, and play its due role as an Asian financial center. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China has demonstrated its adaptation to US-style supervision in aspects such as legislation, licenses, reserve transparency, and B2B (business-to-business) access, thus maintaining the Hong Kong dollar-US dollar linked exchange rate system.
However, as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China gradually deepens its exploration in the field of stable currency, mainland China should also base itself on itself and combine the experience of the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong, China, to create a unique "Chinese stable currency solution" in pilot innovation, which not only serves the real economy, but also guarantees financial security and monetary sovereignty.
This article will explain one by one the rationality and experimental path for China to establish a “RMB stable currency” regulatory framework.
1. China should explore the establishment of a stable currency regulatory scheme
Since 2024, the global cryptocurrency landscape has successively ushered in historic changes.
In January 2024, the Bitcoin Exchange Traded Open-End Index Fund (ETF) was approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for official launch, becoming a landmark event for the first time that the crypto asset class was adopted by the sovereign financial system and entered the capital market. The official entry into force of the "GENIUS Act" is the first step to help the US cryptocurrency industry gain "sunshine".
The Legislative Council of Hong Kong, China, passed the Stablecoin Bill on May 21, 2025, and it officially came into effect on August 1 of the same year. It has become one of the few important financial centers in the world with a legal stable currency licensing mechanism, and has taken a key step for Hong Kong, China, to once again become the "Asia Crypto Financial Hub". A "stablecoin" is a cryptocurrency anchored to a stable asset (such as the U.S. dollar, gold, etc.), designed to reduce price fluctuations and provide a stable value store and transaction medium. From this definition, the Hong Kong dollar whose currency value is pegged to the U.S. dollar can also be regarded as a type of U.S. dollar stable currency.
In the author’s opinion, as stable currency legislation becomes a reality in many major jurisdictions around the world, China should not miss this historic opportunity. Following this trend, China can establish a new mechanism to expand "RMB internationalization." Mainland China should also make pilot arrangements on a prudent basis, and the focus should be on exploring cross-border payment application scenarios for stablecoins.
After the "sunlight" of US dollar stablecoins, the biggest challenge in the short term may be the difficulty in finding compliant payment scenarios, which will limit the growth of the stablecoin market. According to JPMorgan Chase, stablecoin demand mainly comes from its role in cryptocurrency transactions - that is, as the cash equivalent of the crypto ecosystem, while payment functions only account for a small part of the demand - about 6%.
But in some scenarios of China’s import and export w88, stablecoins have begun to play a role. As a type of cryptocurrency, stablecoins have the advantages of blockchain technology such as decentralization, peer-to-peer, low cost, and high efficiency. In international w88, especially when trading with some countries or regions where exchange rates fluctuate greatly and US dollars are not easily available, stablecoins have realistic cross-border payment application scenarios. The author’s research in Yiwu, Zhejiang, the world’s small commodity center, also showed that stablecoins have become an important tool for cross-border payments because they have indeed solved the problem of stable payments in cross-border w88 transactions with unstable areas.
Modern currency has gone through a long process from barter to general equivalents, and then evolved into modern credit currency. However, for a country's currency to generate credit, it must be supported by real production and transaction needs, and production and international w88 are China's advantages. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of September 2025, the added value of China's manufacturing industry accounts for nearly 30% of the world's total, and its overall scale has remained first in the world for 15 consecutive years. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in terms of import and export, China has surpassed the United States since 2013 with a total import and export volume of US$4.16 trillion, becoming the world's largest country in goods w88, and will maintain this position until 2024. For the whole year of 2024, China's total import and export value will reach US$6.16 trillion, of which exports will be US$3.6 trillion, an increase of 5.9%; imports will be US$2.6 trillion, an increase of 1.1%.
If the RMB stable currency can be used for cross-border payments in some scenarios in China's foreign w88, it will expand the influence of RMB internationalization and supplement the existing RMB cross-border settlement mechanism. In addition to developing stablecoins anchored at a ratio of 1:1 to the RMB, we can even consider developing hybrid stablecoins.
Promoting the establishment of a "RMB stable currency" can also hedge against financial security risks brought about by the current complex and volatile geopolitics. The original intention of "globalization" is to pursue efficiency. During the era of the strong dollar, the dollar promoted the efficiency of the world economy on a global scale. But now that the United States has put security above economic efficiency, China needs to calmly consider how to hedge the risks caused by violent fluctuations in economic policies such as U.S. tariffs. The current frequent use of long-arm jurisdiction, export controls, sanctions and other measures by the United States will inevitably lead to the fragility and inefficiency of the financial system in some regions. The development of "RMB stable currency" will help China establish stronger commercial relationships and closer industrial chain links with its existing trading partners.
II. It is recommended to pilot the application of stable currency in the free w88 zone
In order to prudently carry out stablecoin-related business and supervision in mainland China, it is recommended to open pilot projects from free w88 pilot zones (hereinafter referred to as "free w88 zones"), such as Shenzhen Qianhai Free w88 Zone and Hainan Free w88 Port, which are adjacent to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Specific suggestions for piloting in free w88 zones include:
(1) Establish a "Cross-border Financial Technology Laboratory". A joint working group involving the local financial regulatory bureau, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will be established in the free w88 zone. Jointly design and operate a closed "cross-border stablecoin regulatory sandbox" to clarify the entry and exit mechanisms, business scope, quota ceilings and risk disposal plans of participating institutions.
(2) Establish a stablecoin “whitelist” system. In line with the stablecoin issuance license system of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, a "white list" of stablecoins that can enter the free w88 zone sandbox pilot will be established. In the early stage, priority can be given to Hong Kong dollar stable coins or offshore RMB stable coins issued by licensed institutions in Hong Kong, China, and backed by high-quality asset reserves.
(3) Establish an innovative pilot program for offshore RMB stable currency. Encourage and guide licensed financial institutions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China to pilot the issuance and circulation of stablecoins that are completely reserved with offshore RMB 1:1 in the free w88 zone sandbox, which can be used for bulk commodity w88 pricing, cross-border e-commerce payments, and supplementary testing of the "Digital Currency Bridge" project. This will help weaken the dominant position of the US dollar as a reserve stable currency and explore new paths for the internationalization of the RMB.
(4) Facilitate cross-border w88 payment and settlement. Compared with traditional bank wire transfers, stablecoin payments can achieve real-time arrival 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, greatly reducing remittance fees and time costs.
The free w88 zone can provide financial innovation policies and tax incentives, allowing foreign w88 companies registered in the free w88 zone and with real import and export w88 backgrounds to use stablecoins in the "white list" when settling with counterparties in Hong Kong, China.
As enterprises join and the payment network of stablecoins expands, transaction costs are further reduced, liquidity is enhanced, and a scale network effect is formed. This will not only improve the capital turnover efficiency of enterprises in the free w88 zone, but also open up a new, digital and efficient RMB cross-border circulation channel outside the traditional banking system. In the future, this mature "Hong Kong, China Issuance + Free w88 Zone Settlement" model will be copied and promoted to countries and regions along the "Belt and Road".
(5) Promote digital w88 and intellectual property financing. Encourage technology companies and cultural and creative enterprises in the free w88 zone to confirm and register their software, film and television copyrights, patents and other digital assets on the blockchain, and use them as collateral to obtain stable currency financing from financial institutions in Hong Kong through smart contracts. The free w88 zone can explore financial applications based on on-chain stablecoins (such as USDT, USDC, and RMB stablecoins): such as on-chain bills, credit certificate settlement, etc. This can revitalize the company's intangible assets and solve the problem of financing difficulties for technology-based asset-light companies.
(6) Build a joint “regulatory technology” platform. Develop a real-time monitoring system jointly between the Free w88 Zone and Hong Kong, China, and use blockchain technology to conduct penetrating supervision of the circulation of each stable currency in the sandbox. Focus on monitoring anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and capital changes to ensure that all transactions are traceable and auditable, and effectively solve the regulatory problems caused by anonymity.
(7) Strengthen the construction of blockchain infrastructure. It is recommended that policy funds support financial infrastructure: blockchain payment underlying platform (supports multiple stablecoins), compliance wallet and smart contract interface, stablecoin circulation data on-chain audit system, third-party on-chain identity recognition and credit scoring system. Only by building a complete on-chain financial "highway" can we attract more scenarios and applications.
While expanding the application scenarios of stablecoins, strict risk prevention and control mechanisms should also be established, including:
(1) Strict institutional and individual access. Sandbox participating institutions must be corporate legal persons with compliant entities in both the Free w88 Zone and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. Stablecoin transactions are strictly limited to B2B (business-to-business) scenarios, and mainland individual investors are strictly prohibited from participating.
(2) Transparent reserve audit. Stable currency issuers are required to regularly (such as monthly) submit reserve audit reports issued by third-party authoritative accounting firms to regulatory agencies and disclose them to the public to ensure the adequacy and safety of reserve assets.
(3) Track and prevent compliance arbitrage and capital flow risks. Strengthen the security audit and automated monitoring of smart contracts, set up emergency "pause switches" and vulnerability tracing mechanisms, and establish multi-level security testing and practical drills. Focus on tracking large-amount changes, abnormal transactions, cross-regional capital reflow and other risk events. Implement full-link identity real-name and anti-money laundering standards for all participating institutions, and crack down on potential channels such as "underground banks" and "compliance arbitrage".
Original link:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/LY5jCGqC_k56iczSlCH3AA
