Latest news with #StablecoinsOrdinance
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ant unit plans to apply for stablecoin issuer license in Hong Kong
Ant Group , an affiliate of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba , plans to apply for a license to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong through its overseas arm Ant International , the subsidiary said in a statement on Thursday. Last month, Hong Kong's legislature passed a stablecoin bill that establishes a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. "We plan to apply for the fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRS) issuer's license once the process is open after the Stablecoins Ordinance takes effect on August 1," Ant International said in a statement. The move was first reported by Bloomberg News, which also said Ant would seek to apply for a stablecoin licenses in Singapore and Luxembourg as well. Live Events Ant was founded by billionaire Jack Ma and is 33% controlled by Alibaba. It operates China's ubiquitous mobile payments app Alipay . Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ant unit plans to apply for stablecoin issuer license in Hong Kong
(Reuters) -Ant Group, an affiliate of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, plans to apply for a license to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong through its overseas arm Ant International, the subsidiary said in a statement on Thursday. Last month, Hong Kong's legislature passed a stablecoin bill that establishes a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. "We plan to apply for the fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRS) issuer's license once the process is open after the Stablecoins Ordinance takes effect on August 1," Ant International said in a statement. The move was first reported by Bloomberg News, which also said Ant would seek to apply for a stablecoin licenses in Singapore and Luxembourg as well. Ant was founded by billionaire Jack Ma and is 33% controlled by Alibaba. It operates China's ubiquitous mobile payments app Alipay. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Ant unit to seek stablecoin permits in Hong Kong, Singapore: sources
[HONG KONG] Jack Ma-backed Ant Group's international unit is planning to apply for stablecoin licences in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. Singapore-based Ant International will apply for the stablecoin issuer's licence in Hong Kong as soon as the city's Stablecoins Ordinance goes into effect in August, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. As well as Singapore, the company is also planning to seek a permit in Luxembourg, they added. The move is designed to bolster the fintech firm's blockchain operation underpinning its cross-border payment and treasury management services, the people said. Ant processed more than US$1 trillion of global transactions last year, a third of which were handled by its blockchain-based Whale platform, they said. Ant representatives did not respond to an emailed request for comment. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority declined to comment. Regulators in Singapore and Luxembourg were not immediately able to comment. Since its record initial public offering was halted in 2020, Ant has been developing new initiatives to drive growth as its lucrative online lending business got handicapped by regulators in China. Overseas, the Ant International arm established an independent board, setting the stage for a spinoff and potential IPO. The unit generated nearly US$3 billion in revenue for 2024 and has produced two consecutive years of adjusted profit, Bloomberg reported in May. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Ant International could fetch an IPO valuation ranging from US$8 billion to US$24 billion if it were to list in Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Increasingly, the unit's treasury business has shown growth potential due to the sheer amount of transactions it handles for the e-commerce platforms of its affiliate Alibaba Group Holding, as well as external clients. The treasury business, which is underpinned by the Whale platform, uses blockchain technology, including encryption and artificial intelligence, to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund transfers. The Whale platform currently supports multiple tokenized assets from banks and institutions around the world. It uses privacy computing technologies such as homomorphic encryption and enables multiparty verification. The company has signed collaboration agreements with more than 10 banks globally including HSBC Holdings, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered. This week, it also formed a strategic partnership with Deutsche Bank to work on payment solutions and treasury management. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to another currency. They are crucial to the functioning of crypto markets, with about US$243 billion of them in circulation in May. Regulators around the world are trying to put rules around the sector, fearing the risk of stablecoin crashes and the potential for massive money laundering. US lawmakers are working on legislation to regulate stablecoin companies. As crypto adoption has grown, many companies have slowly made their way into the space, including financial and technology heavyweights. A high-profile attempt by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms to launch a stablecoin in 2019 later unravelled after a backlash. The rollout in 2023 of a stablecoin from PayPal Holdings marked the first effort from a big financial company. There are also tokens that can act like stablecoins for use as collateral during trading, like tokenized money market funds. Asset managers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have created these kinds of products in recent years. BLOOMBERG
