Ant Group and JD.com's Stablecoin Gambit: Business Expansion or a Forward Outpost of "On-chain Sovereignty"?
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Ant Group and JD.com's Stablecoin Gambit: Business Expansion or a Forward Outpost of "On-chain Sovereignty"?
A profound experiment in the name of "stablecoins," but in reality, about "sovereign finance" and "on-chain clearing networks."
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Sanqing
Introduction
On August 1, 2025, Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance will officially take effect, mandating that all stablecoin issuances pegged to fiat currencies must obtain a license and meet regulatory standards for reserves, audits, KYC/AML compliance. Just as this policy "red line" is drawn, Ant Group and JD.com have simultaneously announced their entry into the stablecoin business—becoming the first Chinese tech giants to race toward licensing.
On the surface, this appears to be corporate responsiveness to regulation and an embrace of Web3 through technological upgrades. Yet, a deeper analysis of their strategic motivations and technical architecture reveals this is actually a profound experiment in sovereignty finance and on-chain clearing networks—using “stablecoins” as its name, but aiming much higher.
1. Why Ant and JD? They’re Not Here to Replace USDT
Their move into stablecoins is less about jumping on the crypto bandwagon than it is about reshaping the role of the RMB within global cross-border financial order. Unlike native crypto projects, their goal isn’t to create a payment tool circulating across DApps:
For Ant, stablecoins represent the final piece in closing its cross-border payment loop—the fiat layer of an “on-chain Alipay+.”
For JD, stablecoins serve as an “on-chain liquidity instrument” to integrate overseas e-commerce platforms, supply chain financing, and foreign warehouse settlements.
Both share one overarching objective: building their own “RMB zone on-chain,” using Hong Kong as a institutional springboard to test new technological pathways for RMB internationalization.
2. Ant: Laying a “RMB High-Speed Rail” on the Blockchain
In June 2025, both Ant International and AntChain announced applications for stablecoin licenses. Superficially, the former handles global payments while the latter focuses on digital financial technology. But given their RWA pilots and global banking partnerships, Ant’s true ambition lies in leading a financial infrastructure based on “RMB-denominated transactions + on-chain settlement.”
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In 2024, AntChain completed an RWA project in Hong Kong, tokenizing revenue rights from new-energy EV charging stations and executing on-chain financing and settlement.
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Ant International has entered a strategic partnership with Deutsche Bank to study integrated solutions combining tokenized bank deposits with stablecoins, exploring alternative clearing routes for global enterprise payments.
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Alipay+ already boasts a massive user base across multiple Asian countries. Embedding stablecoins into its underlying settlement layer would provide the technical foundation for RMB to displace the U.S. dollar.
In short, Ant isn't launching a product—it’s designing an on-chain corridor for the global expansion of the RMB. The stablecoin is merely the most “gentle” form of technical expression.
3. JD: Building a Self-Contained “On-Chain Settlement Loop” for Supply Chains
Compared to Ant’s grand vision of global finance, JD appears more pragmatic. Since 2024, its subsidiary JDCoinChain Technology has participated in the HKMA’s stablecoin sandbox, developing a HKD-pegged stablecoin—not targeting individual users, but aiming to enable internal settlement loops across merchants, logistics, warehousing, and payment systems.
The logic behind JD’s strategy includes:
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Cross-border e-commerce suffers from long billing cycles and complex settlements; stablecoins can establish efficient, transparent ledger systems between “platforms – overseas warehouses – merchants.”
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Its collaboration with Airstar Bank indicates ambitions beyond issuing coins—to build a small-scale settlement network and ultimately reconstruct the “JD ecosystem” on-chain.
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JD does not aim to become a crypto payment giant, but rather a commercial infrastructure operator with low trust costs and high liquidity efficiency.
4. Shared Goals: Independence from the Dollar, No Waiting for the Central Bank
Though differing in approach, Ant and JD share key commonalities:
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They issue in Hong Kong because mainland policies prohibit such activities, whereas Hong Kong offers a “testable and controllable” regulatory environment.
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They avoid USDT/USDC, as reliance on the dollar system would forfeit financial sovereignty.
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They do not wait for CNY-CBDC, since China’s digital RMB lacks free convertibility and cross-border applicability.
In essence, they’ve chosen a middle path—building private-sector RMB settlement channels via CNH or HKD-backed stablecoins, bypassing sovereign-level arrangements. This reflects both market opportunity and pragmatic compromise.
5. Risks and Prospects: Who Will Control On-Chain Monetary Sovereignty?
If Hong Kong permits large-scale adoption of licensed stablecoins, those controlling circulation, accounts, and infrastructure will gain a higher-tier “transaction governance authority” than traditional banks. Ant and JD are positioning themselves as rule-makers in this emerging “financial intermediary domain.” Yet they face significant challenges:
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Can their technical trust mechanisms satisfy stringent regulatory requirements?
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Will cross-border flows trigger disputes over capital control gray zones?
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Will the U.S. and Europe perceive “Chinese-backed stablecoin networks” as threats and pressure Hong Kong?
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Will Ant or JD be required to co-operate with state-owned enterprises or official clearing institutions, thereby losing operational autonomy?
Conclusion: Stablecoins as an Experiment in “Preemptive Sovereignty”
Ant and JD aren’t building stablecoins to compete with USDT for market share, nor to find blockchain use cases.
They are creating a market-driven version of a RMB financial network. Before the sovereign actor arrives, they’ve already taken action.
Hong Kong’s stablecoin framework represents a “gentle rerouting” of the financial order. Whether this tech-led, commercially-driven network construction can eventually become part of a China-style monetary system remains a question worth watching closely. In this sense, stablecoins are not financial products—they are political acts that happen early.
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