On January 1, Bloomberg reported that people familiar with the matter said that Hong Kong's push to introduce stablecoin rules as soon as possible this quarter has attracted the interest of companies including asset management company Harvest Fund International, Harvest Global Investments Ltd., fintech expert RD Technologies and crypto trading platform exchange fund Venture Smart Financial Holdings Ltd. are discussing planned stablecoin trials with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which are known as regulatory sandboxes. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau began consultations on stablecoin rules last month and said the sandbox would help convey regulatory expectations.
People familiar with the matter said there is no guarantee that the upcoming framework will be finalized by the end of March, nor that all those seeking to participate in the trial will be approved. Aiying previously reported that Harvest Fund Hong Kong submitted an application for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission last Friday (January 3). This is the first institution in Hong Kong to submit an application for a Bitcoin spot ETF. People familiar with the matter said that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission hopes to speed up the approval of the first Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF, and plans to list the first Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after the Spring Festival. This is only two weeks after the US Securities and Futures Commission approved the first batch of US Bitcoin spot ETFs on January 1. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission also began to accelerate progress after approving such ETFs in the United States.