HSBC’s Hong Kong dollar stablecoin has picked up 50,000 users in the ten days since it went live, group chief executive Georges Elhedery said on Monday. The bank’s own daily disclosures show what those users have actually loaded so far: HK$87.75 million of RedCoin in circulation, a little over US$11 million.
Elhedery gave the figure on a panel on the first day of Hong Kong FinTech Week, the South China Morning Post reported. He credited the “comfortable” rules the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has set and was clear the number is a start. “Of course, our target is multimillion users,” he said. “But it just shows one can scale some of these features when the technology is sound and safe, and when the regulatory environment is also there and safe.”
He also said RedCoin will later be offered to all HSBC and Hang Seng Bank clients, though he gave no timetable.
What the reserve figures show
HSBC publishes circulation and reserve numbers for RedCoin (ticker RCHKD) on its RedCoin page, updated daily. As of November 2, the total par value in circulation stood at HK$87,752,366.08, with reserve assets of HK$88,752,366.08 held entirely in cash. Circulation rose by HK$6.75 million over the previous seven days.
The first weekly statement, covering the position at October 28, put circulation at HK$83.2 million against reserves of HK$84.2 million, a backing ratio of 101%. The extra HK$1 million of cash has stayed the same across both snapshots. In both cases the reserves are 100% Hong Kong dollar cash, with no government bills yet.
Dividing the two headline numbers gives roughly HK$1,750 per user, or about US$225. That is only a rough guide. HSBC has not said how balances are spread, whether “users” means activated wallets or people who have transacted, or how much of the float is held by merchants. Still, the arithmetic suggests most people are trying RedCoin with small amounts for now. Growth since the first week has also been steady rather than steep.
For scale, HSBC launched RedCoin on October 23 to the more than 3.3 million users of its PayMe app. On that base, 50,000 users is about 1.5% adoption in the first week and a half.
What is live and what comes next
Right now RedCoin works only inside PayMe. Users can send it to other people and pay at the more than 100,000 merchants that accept PayMe, according to the bank’s October 23 launch release. The RedCoin white paper says HSBC charges no fees to buy or redeem the coin, or to make person-to-person and merchant payments.
On Monday the bank demonstrated three RedCoin use cases at FinTech Week. “Merchant payments and wallet top-ups are already live, and we are encouraged by early customer usage,” said Maggie Ng, chief executive of HSBC Hong Kong. “This is how digital currency becomes part of daily life in Hong Kong.”
Two additions are next. The first is RedCoin in the HSBC HK Mobile Banking app. The second is the ability to use the coin to subscribe to tokenised investment products, starting with a new share class of HSBC’s Hong Kong dollar money market fund at a lower entry threshold. When it launched RedCoin, the bank said both would come later this year.
The design is closer to a digital bank product than a crypto token. The white paper also says the coin is issued on HSBC’s own private, permissioned ledger rather than a public blockchain. The FAQ on the bank’s page says PayMe and app wallets will be kept separate, with no transfers between them. HSBC also states that RedCoin is not a protected deposit under Hong Kong’s Deposit Protection Scheme. The first independent attestation of the reserves is expected after the fourth quarter.
Where it sits in Hong Kong’s stablecoin push
The HKMA issued its first two stablecoin issuer licences on April 10, as we reported at the time. The HKMA register lists HSBC as FRS02 and Anchorpoint Financial, the venture backed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT, as FRS01. According to the Post, Anchorpoint opened its HKDAP coin in beta in August and is eyeing retail use as early as the end of 2026, so HSBC is the first of the two to put its coin in front of retail users at scale.
The regulator is moving on the wholesale side at the same time. On the same day, the HKMA said its Ensemble TX tokenisation pilot now settles real-value transactions around the clock and that it will soon expand the trials to include regulated stablecoins.
The next useful numbers will come from HSBC’s weekly statement, published on Fridays, which will show whether circulation keeps climbing after the launch promotions. The bank is offering PayMe transaction discounts and RewardCash to mark the launch. Wider distribution through the HSBC app and Hang Seng Bank is the bigger test of whether Elhedery’s multimillion-user target is realistic.
FAQ
How many people use HSBC RedCoin?
HSBC group CEO Georges Elhedery said on November 2 that RedCoin has 50,000 users since its October 23 launch on PayMe.
How much HSBC RedCoin is in circulation?
HSBC’s stablecoin page showed HK$87.75 million in circulation as of November 2, backed by HK$88.75 million in cash reserves.
Is HSBC RedCoin on a public blockchain?
No. HSBC’s white paper says RedCoin is issued on the bank’s own private, permissioned ledger, and it can currently only be used inside the PayMe app.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
