Hong Kong Could Beat US & EU to Become Stablecoin Capital?! 🤯

Welcome to PayFi Weekly by Transak. Here’s your weekly round-up of the most important developments in the digital assets and payments space.

Hong Kong is stealing the spotlight this week. From skepticism to competing against global super powers, how the tables have turned!

Spicing things up… Fireblocks and Stripe launched their own stablecoin infrastrcuture networks for instituions.

Let’s dig in! 👇

💱 Stablecoin Snapshot

🇭🇰 Hong Kong is cannonballing into stablecoins. 💥 Since its new licensing regime launched on Aug 1, 77 firms have applied, from banks and fintechs to Web3 giants. Only a few will make the cut, but the race is on.

Big names are already in play: Bank of China (HK), Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, HK Telecom, and more!

💸 Investors are piling on too. July alone saw $1.5B raised by Hong Kong fintechs chasing stablecoin, tokenized asset, and blockchain payment plays.

PwC says Hong Kong’s multi-currency model could make it the 🌍 stablecoin capital of the world, powering not just payments but FX, trade settlement, and more. Regulators, though, are keeping things steady with a focus on B2B use cases first.

⚖️ Regulation

🇸🇻 El Salvador just bought $50M worth of gold. Its doubling down on "natural Bitcoin." Dig into the gold play

🇧🇾 President Lukashenko (of Belarus) is pushing for a clearer legal framework for digital assets to reinforce state control over crypto activity. See what’s brewing in Minsk

🇰🇿 USDT and USDC are now valid for paying regulatory dues in Kazakhstan’s financial hub, with Bybit leading the charge. Follow the money trail

🇺🇸 FRNT, the official Wyoming state-backed stablecoin, is adding Hedera support. But you still can’t buy it yet. Track the rollout

🌍 Adoption

🛍️ Paradigm and Stripe have jointly incubated Tempo, a blockchain crafted from the ground up for payments. Input from global fintech and e‑commerce leaders like Visa, Revolut, Shopify, OpenAI, and Deutsche Bank shaped Tempo’s design. Discover Tempo

🥇 Tether has $8.7 billion in physical gold backing its XAUT stablecoin (market cap ~$1.4 billion), and it’s now exploring investments across the entire gold supply chain (mining, refining, trading, royalties) to diversify its $162 billion reserve holdings. Trace Tether’s gold ambitions

🗽 Bank of America highlights that tokenized money market funds could spearhead next-gen fund adoption thanks to their attractive yield advantages over stablecoins. Explore how tokenized funds are evolving investing

🛠 Tech & Partnerships

🔥 Fireblocks unveiled its “Network for Payments,” a unified API platform connecting institutions to a global ecosystem of on/off‑ramps, banks, liquidity providers, and compliance tools. See how Fireblocks is simplifying stablecoin payments

💙 Transak is a launch partner of the Fireblocks payments infrastructure, offering institutions fast, compliant fiat‑to‑stablecoin rails worldwide. It brings liquidity, KYC/AML integration, and global reach, powering billions in fiat volumes. Explore Transak’s plug‑and‑play rails

💼 Paxos plans to introduce USDH, a compliant stablecoin built for the Hyperliquid ecosystem anchored to GENIUS Act and MiCA regulations. Most interest generated will be used to buy back HYPE tokens and reinvest in the community. Discover how USDH aligns incentives in DeFi

🌍 Everything Else

🦧 On its first trading day, the Trump family’s WLFI token fell about 12%, dropping to ($7 billion market cap). Early investors can offload up to 20% of holdings. The venture has already netted the Trump family around $500 million. Catch the full trading debut breakdown

💰 StablecoinX secured a fresh $530 million via PIPE financing (bringing its total funding to $890 million) to acquire over 3 billion ENA tokens for its treasury strategy. The Ethena Foundation will use proceeds to execute a $310 million buyback, part of a larger $570 million repurchase plan, and retains veto rights over any future token sales. Unpack the full details

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