Hong Kong is quietly completing one of the most significant regulatory overhauls in its financial history. With the Stablecoins Ordinance now in force since August 2025, the city has moved stablecoin issuance from an experimental grey zone into a formal licensed industry, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) granted first stablecoin licenses to HSBC and a Standard Chartered-led group, with roughly 30+ applications under review.
Hong Kong’s Regulatory Development
The framework is deliberately demanding. Issuers must maintain full asset reserves, guarantee par-value redemption, and keep client funds strictly separated from their own. The underlying philosophy “same activity, same risk, same regulation” means virtual asset firms are held to the same governance and AML standards as conventional financial institutions. Further legislation planned for 2026 will extend this perimeter to cover digital asset dealers and custodians as well.
The industry is responding, institutional appetite is growing, while family offices are increasing their digital asset allocations, and the conversation has shifted decisively away from speculation toward real utility: cross-border payments, 24/7 settlement, and tokenized financial products.
By moving in step with the EU, Singapore, and the US, Hong Kong is making a clear bid to be the Asia hub of choice for compliant, institutional-grade digital finance.
Alchemy Pay’s Infrastructure Play
Alchemy Pay has been building global crypto-fiat payment infrastructure for years, and that experience has surfaced a clear gap: as payment volumes grow and use cases multiply including remittances, merchant payouts, cross-border settlement, external blockchain infrastructure becomes a bottleneck rather than a foundation. Stablecoins are increasingly the settlement layer of choice for digital payments, and they need purpose-built rails.
That’s the premise behind Alchemy Chain, a Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically around stablecoin payment workflows. It targets the things general-purpose blockchains tend to get wrong for payments: block times on Alchemy Chain run with near-instant finality, fees are fixed and denominated in ACH rather than subject to gas market volatility, and compliance infrastructure including KYC/AML, fiat on & off-ramps, is inherently integrated from the ground up rather than bolted on.
The $ACH token powers the network as its gas currency, with its role expanding as validator incentives and developer activity grow. Down the road, Alchemy Chain plans to issue its own native stablecoin to act as a common settlement asset across the ecosystem. Wallets, merchants, and payment channels all settling through a single, purpose-built instrument.
Building Regulatory Standing in Hong Kong
Alchemy Pay isn’t just watching Hong Kong’s regulatory evolution from the sidelines, it’s actively participating in it. Working with HTF Securities Limited, a licensed corporation under the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Alchemy Pay has successfully expanded HTF Securities’ Type 4 (Advising on Securities) licence and Type 1 (Dealing in Securities) to cover Virtual Asset advisory services and dealing services.
The collaboration reflects a deliberate strategy: rather than waiting for bespoke virtual asset licences, Alchemy Pay is working within the existing SFC framework to establish regulated footing now. The two firms plan to extend their permissions further into Type 9 (Asset Management), adding virtual asset management capabilities to their regulated offering.
Together, these steps would give Alchemy Pay a comprehensive licensed presence across the advisory, dealing, and management functions that institutional clients increasingly expect from a digital asset counterparty.
Why the Timing Matters
The convergence here is deliberate. Hong Kong’s regulatory framework is creating the institutional trust layer that stablecoin payments infrastructure needs to scale, and Alchemy Chain is being built to operate precisely within that kind of environment. With Alchemy Chain’s plan to launch its own stablecoin, the compliance-ready by design, settled in stablecoins, and backed by a growing SFC-regulated presence, Alchemy Pay is positioning itself not just as a payment provider, but as foundational stablecoin payment infrastructure for the next phase of digital finance in Asia and beyond.
About Alchemy Pay
Founded in 2017, Alchemy Pay is a payment gateway that seamlessly connects crypto with traditional fiat currencies for businesses, developers, and end users. With its offerings including On & Off-Ramp, Web3 Digital Bank, NFT Checkout and its newly launched RWA platform, Alchemy Pay supports fiat payments in 173 countries.
The Ramp is a one-stop solution to buy and sell crypto and fiat, easily integrated by platforms and dApps according to requirements. The RWA platform allows global users to invest in tokenized real-world assets using local fiat currencies, lowering entry barriers and democratizing access to traditional financial instruments. Our Web3 Digital Bank supports Web3 enterprises by providing multi-fiat accounts and instant fiat-crypto conversion capabilities. Additionally, the NFT Checkout enables direct purchases of NFTs using fiat payment methods. ACH is the Alchemy Pay network token on the Ethereum blockchain.
Website Twitter LinkedIn Medium YouTube Telegram Discord
About Alchemy Chain
Alchemy Chain is a payments-focused Layer-1 blockchain developed by Alchemy Pay to support fast, low-cost, and reliable stablecoin transactions at global scale with predictable transaction fees and fast settlement. Alchemy Chain integrates seamlessly with ready to use on & off-ramp infrastructure, connecting stablecoins directly to fiat payment rails, banks, and wallets worldwide. The network uses $ACH as its native gas fee token, reinforcing $ACH’s utility at the core of the ecosystem by powering transactions, securing the network, and incentivizing participation.
