HSBC has launched RedCoin (RCHKD), its first stablecoin, and is rolling it out to the 3.3 million users of PayMe, its popular payments app in Hong Kong. The launch was announced on Friday, October 23, 2026, and users can switch on a RedCoin wallet in the app over the coming days.
It is one of the largest retail stablecoin launches so far by a major global bank, and it puts a regulated digital currency in the hands of ordinary shoppers, not just crypto traders.
What RedCoin is
- A digital Hong Kong dollar. Each RedCoin is worth one Hong Kong dollar and can be redeemed one-for-one.
- Fully backed. HSBC says every coin is covered by high-quality, liquid assets held in separate (segregated) accounts.
- Licensed. In April 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) gave HSBC one of its first two stablecoin issuer licenses, under the city’s stablecoin law that took effect in August 2025.
What users can do with it
At launch, PayMe users can:
- send RedCoin to friends and family, and
- pay with it at more than 100,000 merchants that accept PayMe.
Because it lives inside an app people already use, there is no need for a separate crypto wallet or an exchange account.
What comes next
HSBC plans to expand RedCoin step by step:
- a RedCoin wallet inside HSBC’s main Hong Kong mobile banking app, later in 2026;
- using RedCoin to buy tokenized investments, starting with a new share class of HSBC’s Hong Kong dollar money market fund;
- later, uses for companies and institutions (wholesale payments). No dates have been set for this phase.
The race in Hong Kong
HSBC is not alone. The other license holder, Anchorpoint Financial, a joint venture of Standard Chartered, telecom group HKT and Animoca Brands, began a limited rollout of its own Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, HKDAP, in August. Anchorpoint focuses on institutional payments and settlement, while HSBC is going straight to consumers.
RedCoin also builds on HSBC’s other digital-asset projects in Hong Kong, including a gold token for retail clients and a tokenized deposit service for business payments.
Beware of fake RedCoins
HSBC has warned that it treats any token claiming to be linked to HSBC outside its official channels as fraudulent. At launch, the only official ways to get RedCoin are the PayMe app and, later, HSBC’s Hong Kong banking app. Any “RedCoin” offered on exchanges, social media or airdrops should be treated as a scam.
Why it matters
Stablecoins have so far been used mostly for crypto trading. A bank of HSBC’s size putting one inside a mainstream payments app is a step toward stablecoins as everyday money: regulated, bank-issued, and usable at the corner shop. If it works in Hong Kong, other banks are likely to follow.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
