Stablecoin Trajectories in China and the U.S.: Hong Kong's B2B Breakthrough and America's Mainstream Grand Strategy
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Stablecoin Trajectories in China and the U.S.: Hong Kong's B2B Breakthrough and America's Mainstream Grand Strategy
A song of ice and fire across the Pacific.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy ChandlerZ, Foresight News
On both sides of the Pacific, a narrative about the future of stablecoins is unfolding in dramatically different forms.
On the other side is the cautious yet strategic positioning by industrial giants. Recently, mainland China has seen a rising wave of interest in stablecoins. At the 2025 Lujiazui Forum, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, mentioned stablecoins for the first time, stating that emerging technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology are driving the rapid development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. These innovations enable "payment equals settlement," reshaping traditional payment systems at the foundational level and significantly shortening cross-border payment chains, while also posing major challenges to financial regulation. In Hong Kong, the Stablecoin Bill has been confirmed to officially take effect on August 1. On the eve of licensing, numerous banks, tech giants, and fintech companies are accelerating their moves into the crypto market, repeatedly announcing plans to apply for stablecoin licenses:
-
On June 12, Ant Group announced that its two subsidiaries, Ant International and AntChain Digital Technologies, have initiated applications for stablecoin licenses. Subsequently, it was reported that LianLian Digital is also actively exploring the possibility of applying for relevant licenses in the region. LianLian Digital has already established a dedicated team to advance stablecoin-related projects and conduct use case research.
-
On June 16, Detta Logistics Technology announced it is actively studying regulatory details and plans to apply for a stablecoin issuance license once Hong Kong’s stablecoin regulations come into force. The company intends to launch its own stablecoin, “RHKD.” It also plans to issue a digital token, “RBTC,” pegged to Bitcoin as the underlying asset. Customers will be able to exchange Hong Kong dollars or U.S. dollars for “RBTC,” which the company expects to be fully backed 1:1 by Bitcoin reserves.
-
On June 17, Richard Liu, Chairman of JD Group, stated that JD aims to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major currency countries globally, using these licenses to facilitate global corporate foreign exchange transactions, reduce cross-border payment costs by 90%, and improve efficiency to within 10 seconds. JD also hopes to receive its license at the beginning of the fourth quarter this year and simultaneously launch its own stablecoin.
-
On June 18, Chint Group, an A-share listed company, said, “Our company operates the world’s largest small commodity trading market, which naturally provides vast, high-frequency cross-border trade settlement scenarios. Innovative payment tools like stablecoins have the potential to offer global traders—especially SMEs—with more efficient and lower-cost cross-border payment solutions, aligning with our mission of serving real economy trade. We welcome and support Hong Kong’s proactive progress in establishing a stablecoin regulatory framework. Our cross-border payment platform ‘Yiwu Pay’ will continue monitoring the regulatory process and, once regulations are clear and pathways open, actively assess and promptly submit relevant applications.”
According to a report by Delphi Digital, the stablecoin market supply has surpassed $250 billion for the first time. Yield-bearing stablecoins are growing rapidly, with Ethena reaching nearly $6 billion since its launch; Tether and Circle still dominate the market, collectively holding 86% of circulating supply; issuer diversity is increasing, with over ten stablecoins now exceeding $100 million in circulation; and more than $120 billion in U.S. Treasury securities are locked within stablecoins, forming a liquidity pool outside traditional markets.
These cases reflect not only differences in strategic choices between regions but also deeper divergences in two parallel development models within the global stablecoin race. A core question thus emerges: Will legislative-driven grand narratives or industry-driven scenario penetration ultimately define this structural transformation in future digital financial infrastructure?
Two Paths: Top-Down Mainstream Compliance vs. Bottom-Up Industrial Penetration
The contrasting development paths of stablecoins in the U.S. and Hong Kong stem from fundamentally different market environments and strategic starting points of participants. Taking Circle and JD Chain as examples, they represent two distinct approaches: one pursuing long-term mainstream compliance through top-down institutional integration, the other achieving B2B breakthroughs via bottom-up, industry-scenario-driven expansion.
The former—the U.S. model—represents a mainstream strategy aimed at securing on-chain influence. As a “crypto-native” entity, Circle’s long-term strategic goal has always been clear: to shed the marginal label of the crypto world and integrate into the core of traditional finance. However, this journey has not been smooth. In 2022, Circle’s attempt to go public via SPAC merger failed due to market volatility and regulatory uncertainty. This major setback underscored a fundamental truth in the U.S.: without a clear policy framework, stablecoins cannot gain mainstream acceptance. The turning point came only when the macro-policy environment became clearer—particularly under pro-crypto policy directions and legislative progress such as the GENIUS Act—which provided Circle with the right timing and conditions to pave its way onto capital markets.
In sharp contrast, the latter—the Hong Kong model—represents a new type of B2B breakthrough. JD Chain Technology (Hong Kong) was incorporated in March 2024. In July, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority released the list of participants in its stablecoin issuer “sandbox,” including JD Chain. According to its official website, JD plans to issue a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Hong Kong dollar. This stablecoin will be issued on a public blockchain, backed by highly liquid and credible assets held securely in segregated accounts at licensed financial institutions, with regular disclosures and audit reports strictly verifying reserve integrity. JD is no newcomer to payments, but during the previous C2C mobile payment wars, it failed to build an independent payment ecosystem rivaling Alibaba and Tencent. Therefore, JD’s entry into stablecoins is not a belated chase on an old battlefield, but a natural extension leveraging its strengths in technology and supply chain. Rather than competing in the saturated retail C2C space, JD is directly targeting areas where it holds structural advantages—B2B cross-border trade and supply chain finance. This path does not begin with seeking comprehensive legislative liberalization, but rather uses Hong Kong’s position as an international financial center and its regulatory sandbox to solve specific business problems.
Two Strategies: B2B New Battlefield vs. On-Chain Monetary Rail
Different starting points lead to radically different market strategies.
In a recent interview, Liu Peng, CEO of JD Chain Technology, said that as of early June 2025, the company had primarily tested its Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin and would soon begin testing other fiat-pegged versions. Based on market demand, both are expected to be launched concurrently. Unlike the first phase, which focused on product functionality and technical validation, the second phase emphasizes testing the stablecoin’s application across three real-world scenarios: cross-border payments, investment trading, and retail payments.
In cross-border payments, JD Chain plans to expand its user base through both direct customer acquisition and indirect channels—for example, by partnering with compliant wholesalers. In investment trading, it is currently negotiating with global regulated exchanges to list its stablecoin in various regions. For retail, the initial rollout will be on JD Worldwide’s Hong Kong and Macau sites, allowing users to make purchases with stablecoins within JD’s self-operated e-commerce ecosystem.
JD’s approach can be seen as a scalpel-like tactic—deeply penetrating the B2B segment with a focus on practical use cases. Liu Peng explicitly stated that JD stablecoin’s target users are not crypto investors, but real enterprises and cross-border trade participants. Its core value proposition is not speculation, but solving long-standing pain points in traditional cross-border payments—high cost, low efficiency, and opaque processes—by providing tailored payment solutions integrated with JD’s existing ecosystems such as JD Worldwide and international logistics.
In contrast, Circle’s strategy is to seize protocol dominance—winning through standardization. As Bernstein analysts have pointed out, Circle’s ultimate ambition is to become the monetary rail of the internet. This means Circle does not aim merely to address a single use case, but to establish itself as a universal, foundational digital cash protocol. By securing legal recognition through legislation, Circle hopes USDC can be seamlessly integrated into all banks, payment providers, fintech platforms, and commercial applications. This is a classic horizontal, platform-driven logic—aiming to maximize network effects by setting foundational standards and thereby occupying an indispensable core role in the global digital financial system.
These two strategies thus point toward two very different endgames.
JD’s envisioned future begins with building a highly closed-loop, on-chain trade empire. By integrating stablecoin payments with its international logistics, overseas warehousing, and order systems, JD could theoretically create an unprecedented, highly efficient, and transparent global supply chain finance ecosystem. But its most strategically valuable horizon lies in offshore RMB stablecoins. Leveraging Hong Kong’s status as the world’s largest offshore RMB hub, if permitted by regulators, launching a CNH-pegged stablecoin could unlock immense commercial potential and position JD as a key financial infrastructure player in RMB internationalization.
Circle’s endgame, on the other hand, is closely tied to reinforcing the U.S. dollar’s hegemony in the global digital economy. Its goal is to become the de facto private-sector version of digital dollars—a core component of next-generation financial infrastructure. Notably, amid widespread market enthusiasm, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has begun taking profits as CRCL stock hits new highs. Disclosure records show that ARK sold a total of 642,766 shares of Circle stock across three core funds over two days, worth approximately $96.5 million, representing 14% of its initial stake. While another major institutional shareholder, BlackRock, has not reported any减持, insider sales by Circle executives are part of a scheduled post-IPO plan outlined in the prospectus.
This does not negate Circle’s long-term value outright, but it suggests that even among the most bullish investors, short-term valuations may have fully—or even excessively—priced in policy optimism, necessitating tactical profit-taking to manage risk exposure. After legislation passes, the real challenges of commercial implementation and market competition may just be beginning.
Converging Paths? A Currency War That Defines the Future
Overall, JD and Circle represent two paradigms in stablecoin development. JD’s model is pragmatic—starting from solving concrete business problems, with the advantage of a solid operational foundation and clearly defined use cases. Circle’s model is idealistic—driven by a grand financial vision, benefiting from leading legislative support and strong capital backing.
Yet many questions remain unresolved: Can JD’s B2B moat, built around industrial strength, effectively resist the top-down disruption posed by universal protocols like Circle? And when Circle’s grand vision confronts the real economy, will it too need to follow JD’s path—tackling specific industry use cases one by one?
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
Foresight News
