Odaily Planet Daily reports that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently issued a circular confirming that new bank capital regulations based on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's crypto-asset regulatory standards will be fully implemented in Hong Kong starting January 1, 2026. This includes not only crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also RWAs and stablecoins. Industry insiders point out that Ethereum is a typical example of permissionless blockchain technology, while almost all mainstream stablecoins and a growing number of RWAs are generally issued on public blockchains. With the expected implementation of the new regulations, the Hong Kong banking system's willingness to hold such stablecoins or RWAs will inevitably be affected.
However, both the Basel Committee and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority have made it clear that the Basel crypto asset regulatory standards generally do not impose credit risk or market risk regulatory capital requirements on crypto assets that banks hold for their clients, but the prerequisite is that the client's crypto assets must be segregated from the bank's own assets. (Caixin)
