HSBC is in the process of distributing its Hong Kong dollar-based RedCoin stablecoin to more than 3.3 million PayMe users, adding regulated digital currency payments to HSBC’s existing retail payments network. As per an October 23 report by the South China Morning Post, the staged roll-out enables users to transfer funds to other users and pay merchants using RedCoin. HSBC plans to have the initial roll-out completed before the end of the week, while tokenised investment services will be rolled out later this year.
HSBC Plans to Expand RedCoin Into Tokenised Gold and Third-Party Investment Funds
As per the report, Step one will allow PayMe customers to get a RedCoin wallet after they have upgraded the application. Users do not require an additional bank account or maintain a minimum balance in order to make use of the service. Activation makes the wallet capable of enabling transactions and making payments for businesses that support PayMe. Lawrence Li, Head of PayMe, HSBC, said that the experience was created keeping in mind the existing payment experience of their customers.
Addressing prior to the Friday launch, Li explained that the primary concern is that of providing dependable services without placing any unreasonable demands on the customers. The feature is being rolled out in stages, as opposed to turning it on for all eligible users at once. According to HSBC’s official RedCoin landing page, the digital asset can be converted on a one-for-one basis into Hong Kong dollars in accordance with certain conditions. RedCoin functions on HSBC’s distributed ledger technology, which controls token creation and transactions through smart contracts.
In addition, the documentation of the bank makes it very clear that RedCoin wallets are not deposit wallets and hence do not fall within the purview of the Deposit Protection Scheme of Hong Kong. Customers will be able to access the stablecoin through HSBC-approved apps and not through any unrestricted public blockchain wallets.
RedCoin will be incorporated into the mobile banking application of HSBC by the end of 2026 in Hong Kong, through which customers can subscribe to the tokenised investment schemes. The first investment scheme which will be offered will be money market fund of the Hong Kong dollars having minimum HK$100 subscription fee. The bank plans on offering tokenised gold as well as investment funds that will be managed by third parties in subsequent phases. Launch dates for the other products have yet to be disclosed by the bank.
Hong Kong’s licensed stablecoin market has expanded exponentially in the past year. The country granted its first Stablecoin issuer licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, which is a Standard Chartered-led joint venture that includes Animoca Brands. The approvals by the HKMA marked the first batch under the Stablecoin Ordinance, which came into force in August 2025.
