Hong Kong's biggest lender has moved its HKD-backed stablecoin from naming to live use: HSBC RedCoin is now rolling out to PayMe users in phases, with every user expected to get access before the weekend. The token is issued under an HKMA stablecoin issuer license and is fully backed by segregated liquid assets.

The first phase covers peer-to-peer transfers and payments to merchants on PayMe. Users can activate a RedCoin wallet with no minimum balance, and merchants are settled on the same schedule as regular HKD payments. HSBC gave no target for circulation after an internal pilot with nearly 100 employees.

More than 3.3 million PayMe users are getting access to a bank-issued stablecoin.

By year-end, HSBC plans to connect RedCoin to its Hong Kong banking app so customers can subscribe instantly to tokenised money-market funds from HK$100 ($12.75). Gold tokens and third-party funds are slated to follow, along with wholesale use cases with selected partners.