Beijing Pulls the Plug: Ant and JD Halt Hong Kong Stablecoins

China's largest tech firms, Ant Group and JD.COM, have reportedly halted their stablecoin projects in Hong Kong due to regulatory intervention from Beijing, emphasizing the government's commitment to state-controlled monetary sovereignty over private digital currency issuance. This action is part of a dual strategy: restricting private digital currencies to prevent competition with the state-backed digital yuan (e-CNY) and leveraging control over hard assets like rare earth minerals to challenge the US dollar's global dominance. Hong Kong's ambition to be a Web3 hub is constrained by this central priority, as evidenced by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also directing brokerages to stop certain Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization projects. The overall message for global Web3 firms is that innovation must align with national strategic goals, primarily complementing the e-CNY, as monetary sovereignty remains non-negotiable.

(Source：BeInCrypto)