Author: Fortune Chinese Network
The popularity of stablecoins continues to rise globally, with a new license obtained by Chinese securities firms adding fuel to the fire.
On June 24th, Guotai Junan International was officially approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to upgrade its existing securities trading license to provide virtual asset trading services, becoming the first Hong Kong Chinese securities firm with comprehensive virtual asset service capabilities. Stimulated by this news, its Hong Kong stock price surged nearly 200% on the 25th, driving the Hong Kong Chinese securities firm index to rise over 11% in a single day.
Evidently, this breakthrough is a key step for financial institutions to deeply participate in the virtual asset market and provides substantial support for Hong Kong's strategic goal of building an "International Virtual Asset Center".After Guotai Junan International's license upgrade, customers will be able to trade mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as stablecoins like USDT through the same platform, while obtaining compliant investment advice and participating in tokenized securities and other innovative products, truly achieving a "one-stop" configuration of traditional securities and digital assets. At a time when there is no direct counterpart to Circle in the Chinese capital market, some investors even refer to Guotai Junan International as the "First Chinese Stablecoin Stock".
Looking back to 2024, Guotai Junan International was the first to launch a structured product based on virtual asset spot ETFs in the Hong Kong market and was permitted by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to introduce agency business for virtual asset trading platforms. By 2025, the company was confirmed by the commission to distribute or provide advice on tokenized securities to clients and initiated digital bond issuance business. This path aligns perfectly with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's "A-S-P-I-Re" roadmap for the virtual asset market released in February 2025, which focuses on Access, Safeguards, Products, Infrastructure, and Relationships, including 12 specific measures to promote market participation, implement adaptive compliance and product frameworks, and upgrade infrastructure by combining traditional financial reliability with blockchain technology efficiency.
It is worth noting that although the new license covers multiple virtual assets, stablecoins are still viewed as the hub of the entire trading ecosystem, with the core being that stablecoins are the "bridge currency" connecting traditional finance and the virtual asset market, anchored to fiat currency, with low volatility, and usable for cross-border payments or on-chain investments.The Hong Kong Stablecoin Regulation will take effect on August 1st this year, becoming the world's first jurisdiction to implement full-chain regulation of fiat stablecoins. Citibank predicts that the global stablecoin market will reach $1.6 to $3.7 trillion by 2030, with Hong Kong poised to occupy a significant share leveraging its regulatory first-mover advantage. HashKey Group's Chairman and CEO Xiao Feng believes that tokenization and stablecoins will fundamentally change the operation of global financial markets.
Market reactions to some extent validate the strategic value of this license. On June 26th, Guotai Junan International's stock price surged 90% at market open before experiencing significant volatility and closing down 6%. While stock prices are unpredictable, it is certain that the virtual asset market's daily trading volume of billions of dollars opens up a new battlefield for securities firms mired in traditional brokerage business. Meanwhile, new cross-border financial scenarios are emerging. In April this year, Guotai Junan International assisted a central enterprise in successfully issuing a $150 million tokenized bond, becoming one of the first institutional projects to complete bond issuance through Hong Kong's Tokenized Central Network (TCN), verifying blockchain's disruptive improvement of cross-border financial efficiency and potentially expanding this model to broader asset classes like stocks and funds.
In this newly opened feast, securities firms are not the only beneficiaries. East Wu Securities research report suggests that the compliance wave of virtual assets will activate and reshape the entire non-bank financial industry chain, with a collaborative ecosystem around digital asset issuance, circulation, management, and application accelerating formation.For fintech enterprises, demand for services like blockchain infrastructure, smart contract audits, and on-chain compliance monitoring has surged, forming a technical support layer. For payment institutions, their cross-border payment networks will seamlessly integrate into the stablecoin clearing system, significantly improving efficiency and sharing transaction fees (replacing SWIFT's high costs). For asset management companies, new programmable assets like tokenized money market funds, bond funds, and even REITs will emerge, meeting global investors' demand for "on-chain income" and driving asset management scale growth.
However, opportunities always come with challenges. Technical security is the primary concern, with virtual asset trading requiring extremely high system protection. Risks like hacker attacks and private key management vulnerabilities could lead to significant losses, demanding continuous investment in risk control system upgrades. Additionally, the regulatory environment remains variable. While Hong Kong leads in legislation, the "Guiding and Establishing US Stablecoin National Innovation Act" is imminent, and the EU's MiCA framework is already in place, potentially causing policy arbitrage due to global regulatory differences.
Despite this, institutional participation in the virtual asset market will continue to deepen. Hong Kong Financial Services Bureau data shows that virtual asset-related fund scale surged 200% year-on-year in 2024, with institutional funds exceeding 40% share, and traditional financial institutions' entry significantly enhancing market credibility. Industry insiders directly involved in virtual asset license applications and system integration recently revealed that multiple Hong Kong local securities firms (such as Victory Securities and ASTR Securities) have completed first-tier license upgrades, with more institutions potentially entering. It is understood that securities firms mainly provide "distribution" type trading services, not operating their own exchanges, with a model of establishing an Omnibus Account on licensed exchanges, accessing trading systems to provide clients with compliant buying and selling channels for mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, without involving high-risk Altcoins.
Among numerous securities firms transforming from traditional underwriters to digital asset full-cycle service providers, Guotai Junan International's license upgrade undoubtedly holds symbolic significance and reflects the gradual maturation of Hong Kong's virtual asset regulation. In the long term, whether Hong Kong can become an Asian virtual asset hub through "compliance + technology" dual advantages depends on the sophistication of risk control.For Chinese securities firms, a massive, rapidly growing market where they can claim a considerable share through their customer base and brand advantages is opening its doors compliantly. Guotai Junan's pioneering license may just be the signal of this feast's beginning.
