Beijing Business Today: The People's Bank of China defines stablecoins for the first time; industry analysts believe this will not affect Hong Kong's stablecoin strategy.

Odaily Planet Daily reported today that the Beijing Business Daily published an article titled "Speculation Resurfaces, People's Bank of China Cracks Down on Virtual Currencies Again, Defines Stablecoins for the First Time," which pointed out that at a recent meeting of the coordination mechanism for combating virtual currency trading and speculation, the People's Bank of China defined stablecoins for the first time. It clarified that stablecoins are a form of virtual currency and currently cannot effectively meet requirements for customer identification and anti-money laundering, posing a risk of being used for illegal activities such as money laundering, fundraising fraud, and illegal cross-border fund transfers. The article reiterated the continued crackdown on illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies. However, industry insiders believe that this meeting will not affect the development of stablecoins in Hong Kong, but stablecoin speculation in mainland China will be severely punished. The potential for domestic entities to develop stablecoins in Hong Kong will be greatly reduced, limited to practical applications such as cross-border payments and supply chain finance.