The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has initiated a regulatory sandbox to provide potential stablecoin issuers with a penalty-free environment to develop and test specific transactions.
In a statement released on Tuesday, HKMA emphasized that the sandbox provides regulatory facilitation and is in line with the plan to regulate fiat-backed stablecoins pegged to sovereign currencies such as the US dollar or Hong Kong dollar.
According to the HKMA announcement, “Applicants should have a serious interest in developing a stablecoin issuance business in Hong Kong with a reasonable business plan, and they should conduct proposed operations within a limited and controllable scope under the sandbox regulation.”
Regulatory proposals for stablecoins were open for public opinion by the authorities in December, requiring issuers to obtain licenses to operate in Hong Kong.
In the announcement, the HKMA stated, “The HKMA aims to use the sandbox regulation to convey supervisory expectations to parties interested in fiat-reference stablecoin issuance in Hong Kong and to gather feedback from participants on the proposed regulatory requirements.”
source: tr.investing.com/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç