Ant International, the Singapore entity of Jack Ma’s Ant Group, has begun efforts to onboard the stablecoin USDC. The initiative comes following the signing of a strategic partnership with Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC, for enhancements in blockchain-powered financial infrastructure.
Ant International plans to officially onboard USDC once it secures full regulatory clearance in the United States. The company, in partnership with China’s Ant Group and one of the affiliates of the Alibaba Group, regards broader adoption of stablecoins for global use.
Bloomberg reports Ant International to file for the stablecoin issuer’s license in Hong Kong by August. The new licensing framework in the Hong Kong jurisdiction commences August 1 and mandates compliance for any firm issuing fiat-backed stablecoins.
Ant International has also scheduled matching licensing applications in Singapore and Luxembourg, the goal being to identify regulatory-friendly jurisdictions for stablecoin operations.
The company plans to launch in these areas because big fintech firms are showing growing interest in blockchain and stablecoins.
Ant Group also operates the world’s biggest digital payment platform, Alipay, with more than 1.3 billion users and more than 80 million merchants.
Hong Kong tightens Stablecoin licensing regulations
The company closely follows blockchain growth, especially its role in turning real-world assets into digital tokens. In December 2024, Ant Digital teamed up with the Sui blockchain to create digital versions of ESG-related real-world assets.
In 2024, almost one-third of the $1 trillion in transactions handled by Ant International used its Whale blockchain system. The company plans to use stablecoins for international payments, managing company funds, and handling digital assets.
The regulatory environment for stablecoins is evolving rapidly, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority now mandates licenses for any company interested in issuing fiat-pegged tokens.
Failing to comply would attract penalties of as high as 5 million Hong Kong dollars, approximately $640,000. At the same time, the global stablecoin space is growing rapidly. The combined stablecoin market cap has just topped $250 billion, according to the numbers from DefiLlama.
Nonetheless, forecasters believe the figure is expected to grow to over $1 trillion by the end of 2025, and many believe we’re at an inflection point for broader crypto adoption by stablecoin-powered blockchain applications.
