Secretary for the Treasury of Hong Kong: A Bill on Stablecoins and Virtual Assets Over-the-Counter Trading Services will soon be submitted to the Legislative Council

According to Mars Finance news, when introducing the expenditure budget and work priorities for 2024-25, the Secretary for the Treasury Bureau of Hong Kong, Hui Ching-yu, said that the first phase of services of the multiple central bank digital currency cross-border network (mBridge) is expected to be launched this year, taking the lead in using a variety of central bank digital currencies. Central bank digital currency settles cross-border transactions for enterprises. "Digital RMB" will also expand the pilot scope in Hong Kong to further improve cross-border payment efficiency and user experience. In terms of virtual assets, a series of tasks are being promoted to strengthen supervision to promote the sound and responsible development of Hong Kong’s virtual asset market. Specifically, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched a stablecoin sandbox in March this year to allow institutions interested in issuing stablecoins to conduct testing within a controllable range. It has also conducted public consultation on the supervision of fiat currency stablecoin issuers and virtual asset over-the-counter trading services. The opinions and suggestions received are being considered. Depending on the progress of the preparatory work, a bill will be submitted to the Legislative Council as soon as possible. (Caihua News Agency)