When HSBC launched RedCoin on October 23, more than 3.3 million PayMe customers stood to gain access to the bank’s Hong Kong dollar stablecoin. Ten days later, HSBC has an early measure of how many took it up. Speaking at Hong Kong FinTech Week on Monday, Group CEO Georges Elhedery said RedCoin had reached 50,000 users.
Hong Kong fintech RD Technologies is pursuing a different customer. It has chosen Anchorage Digital Bank to issue RDUSD, a U.S. dollar stablecoin intended for business payments. On Monday, HashKey announced plans to test the token on its network. One use RD is exploring is helping an importer in Ghana pay a supplier in Asia through its local bank.
What 50,000 RedCoin users tells HSBC
HSBC put RedCoin inside an app Hong Kong residents already use to split a bill or pay a shop. Customers can activate a wallet within PayMe, and each RedCoin is redeemable for one Hong Kong dollar. At launch, PayMe’s network included more than 100,000 merchants, giving customers places to spend it from the start. Blockster’s coverage of the RedCoin launch.
For merchants, the next figure worth watching is how often those customers come back and pay with RedCoin. HSBC also plans to bring it into its mobile banking app and let customers use it to buy tokenized investments, including a Hong Kong dollar money market fund. That would give someone who receives RedCoin from a friend a choice between spending it at a shop and putting it into a fund.
Hong Kong’s monetary authority is exploring where else stablecoins could be useful. Dealers have already completed trial trades in tokenized Exchange Fund Bills, a form of short-term debt the authority issues. At FinTech Week, it announced plans to test whether dealers could use regulated stablecoins to settle those trades.
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How a Ghanaian importer could pay an Asian supplier
Suppose a Ghanaian business orders equipment from Asia and wants to know when its supplier will get paid. Under a pilot proposed by Stanbic Bank Ghana and RD Technologies, the importer would give payment instructions to Stanbic. The bank would verify the customer, approve the transaction and handle the local currency. RD would coordinate the overseas payment through its Asian network. The pilot still requires regulatory clearance. RD Technologies’ description of the proposed pilot.
Why would an importer choose RDUSD over USDC or USDT? The comparison comes down to the full payment: how many cedis leave the importer’s account, how much reaches the supplier’s bank account, and when the supplier can use the money. RD and its partners haven’t published a side-by-side comparison of fees, exchange rates or delivery times for that route. Those are the figures a business would need to judge the offer.
What RD has disclosed is who will stand behind its token. Anchorage Digital Bank will issue RDUSD, hold one U.S. dollar in reserve for each token and handle redemptions. RD will work with the businesses and payment providers that want to use it.
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HashKey plans to test RDUSD on HSK Chain, its Ethereum-based network. One proposed use would link payment to an electronic shipping document. An importer and exporter could agree to release funds when the document changes hands, including outside banking hours. It’s a specific reason a trading business might want to settle an invoice on a blockchain. HashKey’s announcement.
“RD focuses on its customers and markets, and we take care of issuance, reserves and custody.”
— Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of Anchorage Digital
In the DBS survey Blockster covered Friday, 67% of respondents said their companies had put tokenized money to use, while another 21% were still testing it. Hong Kong’s two projects give readers concrete milestones to follow. For HSBC, it’s whether those first 50,000 users make RedCoin a regular way to pay. For RD and its partners, it’s a supplier receiving spendable funds against a real invoice. Blockster’s coverage of the DBS survey.
Reporting by Sasha Steenkamp
