Citibank estimates the Hong Kong stablecoin market to be worth approximately HK$124.8 billion, with licensed exchanges and other related ecosystems expected to benefit.

PANews reported on March 17 that, according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Citibank Research expects the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to announce the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses this month. Based on the experience of mainland payment institutions, Citibank estimates that the future circulation of stablecoins on Hong Kong platforms will be approximately US$16 billion (about HK$124.8 billion, with a fluctuation of US$8 billion). This figure could potentially increase further if on-chain activity surges and overseas demand is factored in.

Analysts point out that licensing will drive the compliance of the stablecoin ecosystem, and VATP will be an inevitable step. However, the ecosystem is still in its early stages, and it is expected that local market participants such as OSL will still need to make significant investments in the next 2 to 3 years, facing profitability challenges in the short term.