From Pilot to Pause: How Beijing Slammed the Brakes on Tech’s Stablecoin Dreams

The stablecoin ambitions of China’s tech titans have hit a formidable wall: the Chinese state.

Just months after Ant Group and JD.com signaled their intent to join Hong Kong’s pioneering stablecoin pilot program, they have been forced to suspend all plans.

The Financial Times reveals that regulators from the PBOC and Cyberspace Administration of China issued the stop order, overruling the companies’ strategies and highlighting a fundamental policy red line: the issuance of currency, even in a digital, stablecoin form, remains the sole purview of the state.