# Participant Map: Asia-Pacific

Updated: September 25, 2026

> Asia-Pacific has the largest number of operating regimes for stablecoin issuers and at the same time the most fragmented landscape. Hong Kong granted its first issuer licences on April 10, 2026 (HSBC and the Standard Chartered-led Anchorpoint), and the HKDAP token launched in August 2026; Japan has since 2023 allowed issuance only by banks, trusts and funds transfer providers — JPYC and SBI VC Trade operate on that basis and the three megabanks are preparing a yen stablecoin; Singapore is moving its 2023 MAS framework into legislation; Korea and Taiwan have passed or are debating laws, but issuance has not started. The infrastructure layer is built by Singapore's licensed providers (StraitsX, Triple-A, dtcpay, Partior) and Hong Kong's card platforms (Reap, RedotPay), while global players consolidate the region: Kraken bought Reap and Circle is acquiring Tazapay.

## Singapore

MAS finalised its single-currency stablecoin framework on August 15, 2023: tokens pegged to the Singapore dollar or G10 currencies and issued in Singapore qualify, with full reserves, for the "MAS-regulated stablecoin" label. On September 1, 2026 MAS put legislative amendments implementing the framework out for consultation (responses due October 16): only licensed issuers may call themselves regulated, non-compliant coins will be treated as digital payment tokens, recognition of foreign-issued stablecoins and a ban on interest payments are proposed; until the amendments pass, the label has not formally been granted to anyone. Providers operate under the Payment Services Act with major or standard payment institution licences; since June 30, 2025 MAS has required licences from digital token service providers serving only overseas customers and generally does not grant them. StraitsX issues XSGD and XUSD (over $18 billion in on-chain volume in 2025, reserves at DBS and Standard Chartered); Paxos Digital Singapore has issued USDG since November 1, 2024 with DBS as custody bank. Partior — the interbank settlement network of DBS, JPMorgan, Temasek and Standard Chartered — operates in dollars, euros and Singapore dollars.

## Hong Kong

The Stablecoins Ordinance has been in force since August 1, 2025: issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong, or any token pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, requires an HKMA licence. The first two licences were granted on April 10, 2026 — to Anchorpoint Financial (a joint venture of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands) and HSBC. Anchorpoint's HKDAP launched in an institutional phase on August 12, 2026 on Ethereum with HashKey Exchange and OSL as distributors; on August 24 Standard Chartered became the first bank distributor, with tokenized money market fund subscriptions planned for the fourth quarter; HashKey opened HKDAP deposits and withdrawals on September 16, 2026. HSBC is preparing its own Hong Kong dollar stablecoin for the second half of 2026 with integration into PayMe. Ant Group and JD.com suspended their offshore yuan stablecoin plans in October 2025 after intervention by the People's Bank of China. Hong Kong is also home to the region's two largest card platforms, Reap and RedotPay.

## Japan

Amendments to the Payment Services Act effective June 1, 2023 defined stablecoins as "electronic payment instruments": issuance is permitted for banks, trust companies and funds transfer service providers, while distributors register as electronic payment instrument exchange service providers. SBI VC Trade was the first to complete that registration on March 4, 2025 and launched USDC; RLUSD was approved by the FSA as the first foreign Type 4 instrument, fully available from June 24, 2026, and on the same day SBI VC Trade issued its own yen stablecoin JPYSC. JPYC Inc. registered as a funds transfer provider in August 2025 and began issuing JPYC on October 27, 2025; in August 2026 the company extended its Series B to about ¥6 billion, including ¥1 billion from the logistics group AZ-COM Maruwa, which is moving partner payments to JPYC. On June 10, 2026 MUFG Bank, Mizuho and SMBC signed an MoU on a joint trust-type yen stablecoin with live transactions targeted by the end of fiscal 2026 (March 2027). GMO-Z.com Trust Company is winding down GYEN and ZUSD with mandatory redemption by November 11, 2026.

## Korea, the Philippines, Australia and other markets

South Korea: the Digital Asset Basic Act was introduced in June 2025 but had not passed as of September 2026 because of a dispute over who may issue won stablecoins (the Bank of Korea insists on bank-controlled consortia); the UniKA bank alliance (Shinhan, Woori, JB, K Bank and others) launched Project Pangea for euro–won settlement with Chainlink and Europe's Qivalis on June 23, 2026, and Kakao, Kakao Pay, KakaoBank and Circle signed a non-binding MoU on July 23, 2026. Philippines: Coins.ph issues PHPC — the first peso stablecoin, approved by the BSP in its sandbox in May 2024 and graduated in June 2025; GCash has offered USDC via GCrypto since March 2025. Australia: ASIC introduced an exemption for distributors of stablecoins from licensed issuers in September 2025, the first stablecoin AFSL went to Catena Digital (AUDM), AUDD is issued by AUDC Pty Ltd on nine networks including Arc, and the digital assets law passed on April 1, 2026 with an 18-month transition. Taiwan passed its Virtual Asset Service Act on June 30, 2026, requiring central bank consent for stablecoin issuers, with entry into force no earlier than the first quarter of 2027. Thailand added USDT and USDC to its approved asset list from March 16, 2025; Indonesia moved supervision from Bappebti to the OJK on January 10, 2025, and the rupiah coin IDRX trades on Indodax and Pintu; Vietnam launched a five-year crypto market pilot under Resolution 05/2025 of September 9, 2025. India remains restrictive: in July 2026 the Reserve Bank floated a containment strategy up to prohibition, even as Zelle chose India as the first corridor for ZelleUSD.

## Providers

| Company | Type | Headquarters | Role and status as of September 2026 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| StraitsX | 3 (also 2) | Singapore | Founded 2016 as Xfers, part of Fazz; MPI licence; issuer of XSGD, XUSD, XIDR; settlement for Binance, Bybit, OKX Pay, Grab; expansion to Thailand (with KBank and Orbix), Taiwan and Japan announced November 2025 |
| Triple-A | 1 | Singapore | Founded 2017; MAS digital payment token licence (November 2021), ACPR PI and AMF CASP in France, MSB in the US and Canada; acceptance and payouts in USDC, USDT, PYUSD |
| dtcpay | 1 / 5 | Singapore | Founded 2019; MPI (Singapore) and EMI (Luxembourg) licences; $25M Series A (Vertex, SBI, September 2026); Visa cards funded from stablecoin balances |
| DCS Card Centre / DeCard | 5 | Singapore | Ex-Diners Club Singapore; DeCard Visa card topped up with USDT/USDC (May 2025); Standard Chartered as settlement bank (November 2025); payouts to Africa with Kotani Pay (September 2026) |
| Partior | 4 | Singapore | Founded 2021 by DBS, JPMorgan and Temasek; $80M Series B (2024, Peak XV, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered); settlement in dollars, euros and Singapore dollars |
| Paxos Digital Singapore | 2 | Singapore | Issuer of USDG since November 2024, DBS as custodian; Paxos profile in the Stablecoins section |
| Tazapay | 3 | Singapore | $36M Series B (Circle Ventures, Peak XV, Ripple); over $25B in annualized volume, about 60% stablecoin-linked; Circle announced its acquisition on September 8, 2026, subject to MAS approval |
| Thunes | 3 / 4 | Singapore | Network funding in USDC with Circle (October 2024); Circle Payments Network member (April 2026) |
| Nium | 3 / 5 | Singapore | Visa USDC settlement pilot (November 2025); stablecoin card issuance platform (March 2026); Circle Payments Network payout partner (May 2026) |
| Airwallex | 1 | Singapore / Melbourne | Stablecoin-to-local-currency conversion service; lead investor in the Metal network's seed round (June 2026) |
| Reap | 5 / 1 | Hong Kong | Founded 2018; Visa principal issuer, 2M+ cards; acquired by Payward (Kraken) for up to $600M, closed July 2026 |
| RedotPay | 5 | Hong Kong | Founded 2023; $40M Series A (March 2025, Lightspeed), $100M+ Series B (December 2025) at about a $2B valuation; 6M+ users; preparing a US IPO |
| KAST | 5 | Asia / New York | Founded 2024; $80M Series A (March 2026, QED, Left Lane) at a $600M valuation; 1M+ users; consumer focus |
| Anchorpoint Financial | 8 | Hong Kong | Joint venture of Standard Chartered (HK), HKT and Animoca; HKMA licence April 10, 2026; issuer of HKDAP |
| HSBC (Hong Kong) | 8 | Hong Kong | HKMA licence April 10, 2026; own HKD stablecoin in the second half of 2026 with PayMe integration |
| HashKey Group, OSL | 3 | Hong Kong | SFC-licensed venues; HKDAP distributors; OSL added USDC on Arc (September 2026) |
| JPYC Inc. | 2 | Tokyo | Funds transfer provider (August 2025); JPYC issued since October 27, 2025 on Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, Kaia; Series B of about ¥6B |
| SBI VC Trade | 3 | Tokyo | First registered electronic payment instrument exchange provider (March 2025); USDC, RLUSD, its own JPYSC |
| MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC | 8 | Tokyo | MoU on a joint trust-type yen stablecoin (June 2026); live transactions by March 2027 |
| UniKA | 8 | Seoul | Alliance of about ten banks (Shinhan, Woori, JB, K Bank); Project Pangea with Chainlink and Qivalis (June 2026) |
| Coins.ph | 3 (also 2) | Manila | Founded 2014; BSP VASP, e-money and remittance licences; issuer of PHPC |
| AUDC Pty Ltd (AUDD) | 2 | Australia | Australian dollar stablecoin under an AFSL; nine networks including Arc; a New Zealand token announced June 2026 |
| Catena Digital (AUDM) | 2 | Australia | The first stablecoin AFSL (2025) |
| IDRX | 2 | Jakarta | Rupiah stablecoin; listed on Indodax and Pintu |

## What to watch

- MAS legislative amendments and the first official "MAS-regulated stablecoin" labels.
- The retail phase of HKDAP and the launch of HSBC's HKD stablecoin; new HKMA licences.
- The megabanks' yen stablecoin and its coexistence with JPYC and JPYSC.
- Passage of Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act and the first won stablecoins from bank consortia.
- Closing of the Circle–Tazapay deal and Reap's integration into Kraken; Taiwan's law entering into force in 2027.

## Sources

- [MAS, on finalising the stablecoin regulatory framework (August 2023)](https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/mas-finalises-stablecoin-regulatory-framework)
- [MAS, consultation on legislative amendments to implement the stablecoin framework (September 2026)](https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2026/mas-consults-on-legislative-amendments-to-implement-stablecoin-regulatory-framework)
- [MAS, on the regime for digital token service providers (June 2025)](https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2025/mas-clarifies-regulatory-regime-for-digital-token-service-providers)
- [StraitsX, 2025 wrapped](https://www.straitsx.com/blog-post/straitsx-2025-wrapped)
- [StraitsX, on extending its payment network across Asia (November 2025)](https://www.straitsx.com/blog-post/straitsx-to-extend-payment-network-across-asia-advancing-stablecoin-native-cross-border-settlement)
- [Ledger Insights, on Paxos issuing USDG from Singapore with DBS (November 2024)](https://www.ledgerinsights.com/paxos-issues-global-dollar-stablecoin-usdg-out-of-singapore-partners-dbs/)
- [Partior, on Deutsche Bank's strategic investment (November 2024)](https://partior.com/news-and-insights/partior-welcomes-deutsche-bank-as-strategic-investor)
- [HKMA, stablecoin issuers](https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/international-financial-centre/stablecoin-issuers/)
- [HSBC, on receiving a Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licence (April 2026)](https://www.about.hsbc.com.hk/news-and-media/hsbc-welcomes-hkmas-grant-of-a-hong-kong-stablecoin-issuer-licence)
- [CoinDesk, on the HKDAP launch (August 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/08/12/standard-chartered-led-anchorpoint-launches-hong-kong-dollar-stablecoin)
- [Standard Chartered, on becoming the first bank distributor of HKDAP (August 2026)](https://www.sc.com/en/press-release/standard-chartered-becomes-first-bank-distributor-of-hkdap-to-unlock-real-economy-benefits-of-hkd-stablecoins/)
- [The Block, on JD and Ant Group urging offshore yuan stablecoins](https://www.theblock.co/post/361053/jd-ant-group-urge-central-bank-offshore-yuan-stablecoins)
- [The Block, on SBI VC Trade's registration and USDC (March 2025)](https://www.theblock.co/post/344406/japans-sbi-vc-trade-completes-regulatory-registration-to-process-usdc-transactions)
- [The Paypers, on the RLUSD launch in Japan and JPYSC (June 2026)](https://thepaypers.com/crypto-web3-and-cbdc/news/ripple-and-sbi-launch-rlusd-stablecoin-in-japan)
- [Crowdfund Insider, on JPYC's round and AZ-COM Maruwa (August 2026)](https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/08/295285-japans-stablecoin-focused-firm-jpyc-secures-additional-series-b-funding/)
- [The Block, on the three megabanks' MoU (June 2026)](https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-06-10-japans-three-megabanks-stablecoin-march-2027-404212)
- [GMO-Z.com Trust Company, on winding down GYEN and ZUSD](https://stablecoin.z.com/)
- [CoinDesk, on Korea's digital asset bill (April 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/08/south-korea-proposes-cryptocurrency-law-with-bank-style-rules-for-stablecoins)
- [UPI, on the state of won stablecoins (September 2026)](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/09/08/banks-crypto-exchanges-payment-platforms-won-stablecoin/2011788912171/)
- [Sedaily, on the UniKA bank alliance (June 2026)](https://en.sedaily.com/news/2026/06/24/korean-banks-form-stablecoin-alliance-unika-test-cross)
- [PR Newswire, on the Project Pangea launch (June 2026)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainlink-and-multinational-banking-consortia-launch-project-pangea-to-develop-t0-settlement-framework-for-international-fx-markets-302807910.html)
- [UPI, on the Kakao–Circle MoU (July 2026)](https://www.upi.com/amp/Top_News/World-News/2026/07/23/kakao-circle-stablecoin/5081784843202/)
- [Ledger Insights, on the Coins.ph PHPC launch](https://www.ledgerinsights.com/coins-ph-launches-first-philippines-regulated-stablecoin/)
- [BitPinas, on PHPC exiting the BSP sandbox (June 2025)](https://bitpinas.com/regulation/phpc-exits-sandbox/)
- [Mynt, on USDC in GCrypto (March 2025)](https://mynt.com.ph/newsroom/gcash-brings-digital-us-dollars-to-filipinos-through-circles-usdc-on-gcrypto)
- [Allens, on Australian stablecoin regulatory developments (October 2025)](https://www.allens.com.au/insights-news/insights/2025/10/the-rise-of-stablecoins-australian-regulatory-developments-and-their-global-context/)
- [LSJ, on Australia's first digital assets legislation (April 2026)](https://lsj.com.au/articles/crypto-bitcoin-stablecoin-regulated-under-first-australian-digital-assets-legislation/)
- [AUDD, official site](https://audd.digital/)
- [Focus Taiwan, on passage of the Virtual Asset Service Act (June 2026)](https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202606300016)
- [CoinDesk, on Thailand adding USDT and USDC to approved assets (March 2025)](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/03/10/thailand-regulator-adds-usdc-usdt-stablecoins-to-approved-cryptocurrencies)
- [ADCO Law, on the transfer of crypto supervision to the OJK in Indonesia](https://adcolaw.com/blog/the-direction-of-crypto-asset-regulation-in-indonesia-following-the-transfer-of-supervisory-authority-from-bappebti-to-the-ojk/)
- [Allen & Gledhill, on Vietnam's digital technology law and crypto market pilot](https://www.allenandgledhill.com/vn/publication/articles/31333/establishes-digital-technology-framework-and-launches-crypto-asset-market-pilot-program)
- [Early Warning Services, on ZelleUSD and the India corridor (June 2026)](https://www.earlywarning.com/press-release/zelle-heads-india-unveils-zelleusd-stablecoin-other-markets)
- [Triple-A, on its first MAS licence for digital currency payments](https://www.triple-a.io/newsroom/triplea-the-first-digital-currency-payment-company-to-be-licenced-by-mas)
- [Blockhead, on dtcpay's Series A extension with SBI (September 2026)](https://www.blockhead.co/2026/09/21/singapore-stablecoin-payments-firm-dtcpay-extends-series-a-to-25-million-as-sbi-group-joins-as-strategic-investor/)
- [The Block, on the DeCard card with Standard Chartered (November 2025)](https://www.theblock.co/post/378311/standard-chartered-stablecoin-credit-card)
- [PR Newswire, on Tazapay's Series B (March 2026)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tazapay-raises-36m-in-total-series-b-funding-to-scale-next-generation-payment-rails-globally-circle-ventures-leads-extension-302725915.html)
- [Circle, pressroom (Tazapay acquisition announcement, September 2026)](https://www.circle.com/pressroom)
- [Thunes, on the Circle partnership (October 2024)](https://www.thunes.com/news/thunes-and-circle-to-launch-stablecoin-powered-liquidity-management-solution/)
- [Nium, on the Visa stablecoin settlement pilot (November 2025)](https://www.nium.com/newsroom/nium-joins-visa-stablecoin-settlement-cross-border-payments)
- [Fortune, on Airwallex's stablecoin strategy (August 2026)](https://fortune.com/2026/08/31/who-will-use-stablecoins-airwallex-dan-kim/)
- [CoinDesk, on Kraken acquiring Reap (May 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/07/kraken-to-buy-stablecoin-payments-firm-reap-in-usd600-million-deal-bloomberg)
- [CoinDesk, on RedotPay's IPO plans (February 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/24/hong-kong-s-redotpay-said-to-plan-blockbuster-usd1-billion-ipo-in-new-york-bloomberg)
- [CoinDesk, on KAST's round (March 2026)](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/03/09/kast-raises-usd80-million-at-usd600-million-valuation-to-expand-stablecoin-payments-platform)
- [BitPinas, on Coins.ph's EPFS licence](https://bitpinas.com/news/coins-ph-advanced-epfs-license/)
- [IDRX, official site](https://idrx.co/)

## Mentioned in the digest

- [August 2026 — Standard Chartered becomes the first bank distributor of HKDAP; HSBC prepares an HKD stablecoin](https://stblcns.xyz/reports/State_of_Stablecoins_August_2026)
- [July 2026 — AZ-COM Maruwa commits ¥1B to JPYC; Korea's digital asset act and the HKDAP launch on watch](https://stblcns.xyz/reports/State_of_Stablecoins_July_2026)
- [June 2026 — the Japanese megabanks' yen stablecoin and RLUSD admission; Project Pangea of Korean and European banks](https://stblcns.xyz/reports/State_of_Stablecoins_June_2026)

Canonical: https://stblcns.xyz/en/wiki/infrastructure/asia-pacific