JD Coin Chain CEO Liu Peng: JD's Hong Kong and Macao site self-operated e-commerce will soon support stablecoin payments
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JD Coin Chain CEO Liu Peng: JD's Hong Kong and Macao site self-operated e-commerce will soon support stablecoin payments
Liu Peng revealed that JD's blockchain has been making smooth progress in scenario testing within the "sandbox," and plans to launch stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and other currencies.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsSource: Bloomberg Businessweek / Chinese Edition
By Yin Chen
Editor: Deng Yongjun
In early June this year, Liu Peng, CEO of JD Coinlink (JINGDONG Coinlink, hereinafter "JD Coinlink"), gave an exclusive interview to *Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese Edition*. During the conversation, he emphasized that stablecoins are not equivalent to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but rather resemble mobile payments as “payment tools.” As a veteran in the payment industry, Liu Peng was a core member involved in the design and promotion of WeChat Pay. Later, he led payment operations at major enterprises such as Huawei. Now, Liu says he senses a familiar momentum—similar to the moment just before mobile payments exploded. In his view, payment-oriented stablecoins will serve as new financial infrastructure in the Web3 era, playing a “transformative” role in areas such as international trade.
Decentralized, low-cost transfers, transparent and traceable transactions—the advantages of fiat-pegged stablecoins are helping them move from the crypto world into broader traditional financial systems. On May 30, Hong Kong officially gazetted its Stablecoin Ordinance, marking the city’s intent to regulate stablecoin activities linked to Hong Kong and the Hong Kong dollar through a licensing regime. As early as December 2023, Hong Kong announced it would implement a licensing system for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers. In July 2024, three institutions—including JD Coinlink—entered the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox (hereinafter "the sandbox") to conduct related tests.
Liu Peng revealed that JD Coinlink’s scenario-based testing within the sandbox is progressing smoothly, with plans to launch stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and other currencies.
Established in March 2024 in Hong Kong, JD Coinlink is a subsidiary of JD Technology Group, which itself belongs to JD.com (9618.HK), a leading e-commerce company in mainland China. Despite its short presence in Hong Kong, Liu believes one of JD Coinlink’s first-mover advantages lies in having a ready-made “cold start” use case: the JD e-commerce ecosystem. While the exact number of third-party merchants on the platform has not been disclosed publicly, Liu noted during the 2024 Hong Kong Fintech Week that if compliant stablecoins are issued, the “vast number of merchants on JD’s platform” could use stablecoins for upstream and downstream settlements to improve efficiency and manage funds more flexibly overseas.
In fact, in a market where USDT and USDC dominate over 80% of the stablecoin space, stablecoins issued by licensed Hong Kong entities need more than just regulatory compliance—they must also establish compelling use cases. Cross-border payments have become a key battleground where various stablecoin issuers showcase their strengths. At the same time, retail payments play a significant role in boosting market penetration and brand recognition for stablecoins.
The Stablecoin Ordinance will officially take effect on August 1 this year. Globally, jurisdictions including Singapore, the European Union, and the United States have successively brought payment-focused stablecoins under regulatory oversight. The existing $250 billion stablecoin market is heating up rapidly.
Looking ahead, could compliant stablecoins drive a paradigm shift in payments—evolving the transition from “offline to online” seen in mobile payments into a new phase of “online to on-chain”? Can Hong Kong leverage stablecoins to solidify and elevate its pivotal role in global trade amid swift legislative progress? And how might the global payment and financial system transform in an era where multiple currency-pegged stablecoins coexist?
In May, JD Coinlink entered the second phase of self-testing for its stablecoin within the sandbox. What are the latest updates?
As of early June, we have primarily conducted testing with a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin, followed by trials involving other fiat-pegged stablecoins. Based on market demand, we expect to issue both types simultaneously. Unlike the first phase, which focused on product functionality and technical details, the second phase emphasizes real-world application testing across three scenarios: cross-border payments, investment transactions, and retail payments.
In cross-border payments, we plan to acquire users both directly and indirectly—for example, by partnering with compliant wholesalers. For investment transactions, we are discussing collaborations with globally regulated exchanges to list the JD stablecoin in different regions. On the retail front, the first implementation will be on JD Global Selling’s Hong Kong and Macau site, allowing users to make purchases using stablecoins within JD’s own e-commerce environment.
When does JD Coinlink expect to receive a stablecoin issuer license and list its stablecoin on regulated exchanges? What are your initial expectations regarding issuance scale?
The timeline depends on regulators. We aim to obtain the license in early Q4 this year and launch the JD stablecoin concurrently. The JD stablecoin will be issued on a public blockchain, making data such as issuance volume publicly accessible to anyone.
Cross-border payments are currently the most prominent use case for stablecoins, with USDT and USDC already widely used in this area. How can Hong Kong-issued compliant stablecoins carve out a position in this market?
First, “compliance” itself is the core competitive advantage. As regulations take effect and operations advance, market understanding will mature accordingly. Our goal isn’t to compete head-on in crypto-native or investment trading spaces dominated by existing players. Instead, we aim to open a new front: connecting to the traditional cross-border trade settlement market. This market includes numerous physical enterprises, cross-border traders, and payment technology firms—all of whom require secure, compliant, transparent, and auditable stablecoin services. Therefore, our product design and customer acquisition strategies are tailored accordingly. We anticipate that international trade in regions such as Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Europe may be among the first to adopt Hong Kong-issued stablecoins for payment and settlement.
Many fintech companies have already leveraged blockchain technology and localization strategies to reduce costs and improve efficiency in cross-border payments. Recently, even a founder of a leading cross-border payment firm questioned whether stablecoins offer meaningful value in G10 currency transactions. What is your take on this perspective?
Stablecoins represent a systemic project—not something won by a single product alone. The competitiveness of compliant stablecoins goes beyond lower costs, higher efficiency, and better user experience; it also includes robust custody mechanisms, secure clearing and settlement channels, and trustworthy operational logic to protect holders’ rights. As a stablecoin issuer, we are also eager to collaborate with cross-border payment providers to jointly build a thriving stablecoin ecosystem.
Within the JD ecosystem, which环节 will adopt stablecoins first? Beyond JD’s existing ecosystem, how do you plan to increase market adoption of the JD stablecoin?
The merchant acquiring scenario on JD Global Selling’s Hong Kong and Macau site will be the first to implement JD stablecoin for payment and settlement. Outside the JD ecosystem, given differences across industries in terms of use case characteristics, transaction timeliness, and fund settlement logic, we plan to tailor customized stablecoin payment solutions for different sectors. Currently, JD stablecoin reduces transfer times from days to seconds, cuts costs by at least half compared to traditional wire transfers, and accelerates on-chain capital turnover. These benefits are expected to attract participants in international trade to adopt JD stablecoin.
Speaking of capital turnover, how do you envision supply chain finance services related to cross-border payments evolving in the age of stablecoin payments?
Stablecoin issuers can only issue tokens—they cannot engage in staking, lending, or interest-bearing activities. Therefore, for supply chain finance services, we will explore partnerships with licensed institutions qualified to provide such services. From a solution design standpoint, we are currently analyzing use cases within JD International Logistics. In theory, with proper authorization from all parties, SMEs going global could tokenize data such as overseas warehouse orders onto the blockchain and use stablecoins for payments and financing—significantly improving overall process efficiency. Of course, everything must strictly comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Regarding payments, what similarities and differences do you see between today’s stablecoin payments and the mobile payments you studied years ago?
Many people mistakenly equate payment stablecoins with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum—but they are entirely different. Just as mobile payments were tools of Web2, payment stablecoins are tools of Web3. Their essence is the same: leveraging advanced technologies and business models to reduce costs, improve efficiency, enhance user experience, and promote inclusive finance. Mobile payments fueled the rapid rise of the mobile internet—could payment stablecoins, as foundational Web3 infrastructure, play a similar catalytic role?
Technologically, unlike the centralized architecture of mobile payments, stablecoins are built on decentralized systems. Structurally, stablecoins add an issuance layer absent in products like WeChat Pay. Because of this, regulation is more complex—compliance cannot rely solely on one jurisdiction but requires coordinated global alignment.
In mainland China, mobile payments have nearly replaced cash. Where might the tipping point lie between stablecoins and traditional financial infrastructure?
Mobile payments surpassed cash within five years in terms of transaction volume, user coverage, and scenario penetration. A key driver was the low cost of QR code adoption—from expensive POS terminals to simply printing and posting QR code stickers. The dramatic drop in payment processing costs helped bring micro and small merchants fully into the digital payment fold. It may be too absolute to say stablecoins will completely replace current financial infrastructure, but many real-world financial service scenarios will undoubtedly undergo radical transformation. From a B2B perspective, large-value transactions—especially in cross-border contexts marked by high friction, volatile exchange rates, and long processing times—are likely to adopt stablecoins first. From a consumer (B2C) angle, truly unleashing widespread user adoption may require a breakout product or application akin to WeChat Red Packet in WeChat Pay—a phenomenon-level catalyst.
As an industry practitioner, how should Hong Kong cultivate a stronger stablecoin ecosystem?
The key is to build a risk-based, pragmatic, and flexible open ecosystem in line with the requirements of the Stablecoin Ordinance, where regulators, issuers, wholesalers, use case providers, users, and investors collaborate closely. Settlement is both the final step and the starting point of commerce. We must seize this opportunity, leveraging Hong Kong’s status as an international financial and trading hub to expand the circulation and usage of Hong Kong-issued stablecoins across multiple regions—ultimately positioning Hong Kong as a global stablecoin settlement nexus.
Hong Kong is not only a global trade center but also the offshore RMB hub. Do you plan to issue an offshore RMB-pegged stablecoin?
From a technical standpoint, there is little difference between issuing an offshore RMB-pegged stablecoin and a Hong Kong dollar-pegged one. Moreover, potential use cases for offshore RMB stablecoins already exist—for instance, along the Belt and Road Initiative routes. JD Coinlink has always supported and advocated for the future issuance of offshore RMB stablecoins. However, beyond commercial rationale, we must also comprehensively assess legal and regulatory factors. Ultimately, whether an offshore RMB stablecoin becomes a reality will depend on regulatory approval from the mainland.
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