Hong Kong’s latest digital asset policy signals came through official remarks tied to Consensus Hong Kong on February 11, 2026. In a government release covering the Financial Secretary’s event speech, Paul Chan framed tokenization as moving from proof of concept to real deployment, with more institutional adoption and real-world instruments being mirrored on-chain for faster settlement and fractional ownership. The statement also positioned Hong Kong as a rule-based, internationally connected venue that aims to balance innovation with investor protection under a “same activity, same risk, same regulation” approach.
A separate government release shared Chief Executive John Lee’s video address, which reinforced the city’s positioning as an international financial center and a Web3 hub under “one country, two systems.” Lee’s remarks highlighted the government’s intent to keep building a regulatory framework for sustainable digital asset growth, while pointing to stablecoins and market structure upgrades as practical areas of focus.
Together, the two releases read less like a single headline rule change and more like a directional map: stablecoins get a near-term licensing milestone, market intermediaries and custody get a legislative path, and tokenization stays the anchor use case that connects crypto rails to the real economy.
The most actionable signal is the stablecoin timeline. Chan’s remarks state Hong Kong plans to issue only a small number of stablecoin issuer licences in the first batch in March. Lee’s address similarly points to the Stablecoins Ordinance implemented last August and says the first batch of stablecoin issuer licences is expected within the next month, which places the timeline squarely in March 2026.
That detail matters because it converts a general “hub narrative” into an operational calendar for issuers, exchanges, and custody providers that want to support regulated fiat-referenced stablecoins from Hong Kong. It also gives market participants something to monitor that is measurable: which entities are licensed, what backing and redemption requirements are enforced, and how distribution and cross-border usage are constrained.
Beyond stablecoins, Chan’s speech states the government is finalising details of a new licensing regime for digital asset dealers and custodian service providers, with the aim of introducing relevant legislation this summer. That pairs with the government’s broader framing in Policy Statement 2.0 on the Development of Digital Assets, which sets a roadmap for legal and regulatory streamlining under the “LEAP” framework, and the Securities and Futures Commission’s “A-S-P-I-Re” roadmap for the virtual asset market.
The practical takeaway is that Hong Kong is trying to cover more of the stack end-to-end: issuance (stablecoins), trading and dealing (intermediaries), and custody (where most institutional risk conversations start). Even if the precise rule text still lands later, the direction is increasingly explicit.
Tokenization remains the core narrative bridge between TradFi credibility and crypto-native settlement. Chan’s remarks point to Hong Kong’s tokenised government green bond issuance and say the government plans to regularise the issuance of tokenised green bonds. He also frames tokenization as a way to unlock liquidity for less liquid assets, while improving settlement efficiency and enabling fractional ownership.
The speech also includes concrete ecosystem indicators aimed at institutional audiences: by the end of last year, banks in Hong Kong held over HK$14 billion in digital assets under custody, and tokenised deposit services reached HK$29 billion in total value. Those figures are presented as evidence that regulated financial institutions are already participating, not just pilots running in isolation.
On the market infrastructure side, Chan points to Project Ensemble’s sandbox work and highlights Ensemble TX, launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in November last year, as a pilot phase intended to make settlement of real-value tokenised transactions faster and more transparent. That theme also connects to the government’s broader argument that digital assets should serve the real economy, especially payments and settlement workflows where stablecoins and tokenised deposits can reduce friction.
Government messaging can move crypto sentiment in Asia even when there is no immediate rulebook update. The reason is positioning and path dependency. When a jurisdiction repeatedly ties its narrative to licensing timelines, custody coverage, and tokenization use cases, it influences where infrastructure teams choose to build and where institutions choose to test products.
For exchanges and OTC desks, a stablecoin licensing milestone in March can shift attention toward regulated rails for on-platform settlement, treasury management, and cross-border flows. For custodians and prime brokers, the stated summer legislation target for dealer and custody licensing can accelerate internal planning around entity structures, compliance staffing, and what products can be offered to professional clients.
It also matters for liquidity. Lee’s speech explicitly references measures to boost virtual asset market liquidity and expand product offerings, linked to the SFC’s ASPIRe roadmap. Liquidity initiatives are rarely exciting on their own, but they are the difference between “licensed market” as a compliance label and “licensed market” as a usable venue that can attract flow.
The next month is the key checkpoint because the stablecoin licensing statements are time-bounded. Market participants will watch which applicants are approved, what conditions are attached, and whether the first batch signals a narrow proof-of-control approach or a broader push for ecosystem scale.
The second checkpoint is the dealer and custody licensing regime as it moves toward summer legislation. The details that will matter most are scope and perimeter: which custody models qualify, how segregation is enforced, what capital and insurance expectations look like, and how licensing interacts with cross-border clients and affiliated entities.
Finally, tokenization pilots and government-issued tokenised bonds will remain the credibility layer. If more issuance and settlement pilots translate into repeatable primary issuance and secondary liquidity, the “hub” narrative gains teeth. If they stay mostly ceremonial, the market will treat the messaging as branding rather than policy momentum.
The post Hong Kong Reiterates Digital Asset Direction After Consensus Hong Kong appeared first on Crypto Adventure.
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