HSBC has switched on RedCoin, a stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, for users of its PayMe payments app.
More than 3.3 million PayMe users can activate RedCoin wallets in the coming days, according to HSBC. Each RedCoin, which carries the ticker RCHKD, is designed to be worth one Hong Kong dollar.
How it works
PayMe users can send RedCoin to friends or use it to pay at more than 100,000 PayMe merchants.
RedCoin runs on HSBC’s own private ledger rather than a public blockchain. Balances cannot yet be moved between PayMe and HSBC’s main banking app.
Later this year, HSBC plans to add the token to its Hong Kong mobile banking app, alongside a tokenised share class of its Hong Kong dollar money market fund.
Reserves and protection
About $10.2 million of RedCoin was in circulation shortly after launch, according to HSBC’s reserve tracker. Reserves stood at about $10.4 million, held entirely in cash. An independent attestation of the reserves is expected after the fourth quarter.
RedCoin is not a bank deposit, so it is not covered by Hong Kong’s Deposit Protection Scheme.
Licensed by Hong Kong’s regulator
HSBC received a stablecoin issuer licence from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April, under a licensing regime that took effect in August 2025. It was chosen ahead of at least 36 other applicants.
“We are excited by the market’s interest in HSBC RedCoin. This is only the beginning,” said John O’Neill, HSBC’s managing director of digital assets and currencies.
He said HSBC would “soon add more products, including expanding into wholesale corporate and institutional use cases.”
Banks move into stablecoins
HSBC’s launch comes as other large banks plan their own stablecoins. In September, 21 lenders including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America announced plans for a joint dollar stablecoin, aiming for a launch in the first half of 2027.
What happens next
The early test is how many of PayMe’s 3.3 million eligible users actually activate wallets, and how quickly circulation grows from its first $10.2 million.
