Original title: "USDC issuer Circle plans to enter Hong Kong: waiting for the release of stablecoin regulations, backed by the huge mainland market"

Original author: Joe, BlockTempo

The Hong Kong government plans to submit a draft bill on the "stablecoin issuer supervision system" to the Legislative Council this year. Currently, the local Hong Kong Monetary Authority is allowing potential issuers to test business plans and application scenarios through the "stablecoin issuer sandbox".

Against this background, several Hong Kong media reported today (4) that Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin USDC, intends to hire more employees to establish business in Hong Kong. He is currently waiting for the release of new stablecoin regulations and considering applying for a license after understanding the regulations.

Circle Asia Pacific Vice President: Hong Kong has the opportunity to become an international stablecoin center

At the same time, Circle Asia Pacific Vice President Chen Qinqi told Sing Tao Daily that Hong Kong has great advantages in developing stablecoins, including the ability to achieve single-day US dollar settlement, the largest capital market in the Asia-Pacific region, and the backing of the mainland market. He believes that Hong Kong has the opportunity to develop into an international stablecoin center.

And asked whether Hong Kong's stablecoin regulation started late? Chen Qinqi pointed out that the pace of development in other places does not mean whether Hong Kong is lagging behind or not. He believes that Hong Kong's characteristics lie in the "one country, two systems", the currency is pegged to the US dollar, and the financial policy has a strong degree of freedom. In particular, Japan and Singapore are difficult to replace Hong Kong in communicating with the Chinese market. I believe that there will be considerable market demand for Hong Kong's stablecoin.

Finally, Chen Qinqi expects that between 2025 and 2026, major financial centers around the world will have regulated stablecoin bills, which may be endorsed by the government or issued by private enterprises, and gradually interoperable with stablecoins in other regions.

Stablecoins have not yet fully realized their potential

At Binance Blockchain Week Dubai 2024, which just ended last weekend, Circle co-founder Jeremy Allaire and Binance Global Media and Content Director Jessica Walker had an in-depth discussion on the future development of stablecoins, their application potential, and their role in the global financial system.

When asked what he thought the peak of stablecoins would look like? Allaire responded:

"In my opinion, the development of stablecoins is a bit like the growth of the Internet. In the early 1990s, we had electronic communications technology, but the real "peak" was when we could use large-scale applications such as WhatsApp. Similarly, video streaming was possible on the Internet in the 1990s, but the experience was poor, and then gradually improved until today's high-definition videos.

The potential of stablecoins has not yet been fully realized. The current market size is only about $150 billion, while the total amount of legal electronic money in the world has reached about $130 trillion. In comparison, $150 billion seems insignificant.

Through stablecoins, we are entering an era where value storage and transfer are almost instantaneous. As for when stablecoins will reach their peak, I can't be sure. I think it may take decades. Maybe in 10 years, stablecoins can occupy 5% to 10% of the electronic money market. I think this is achievable.

More importantly, we have never had a currency as programmable and composable as stablecoins, which will bring unknown new utilities in the future. 」

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