HSBC Begins RedCoin Rollout on PayMe in Hong Kong

HSBC began a phased rollout of its Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin, on its PayMe payments app on October 23, enabling users to send tokens to one another and pay merchants. The service is being introduced to PayMe’s more than 3.3 million users, though that figure represents the app’s user base, not confirmed RedCoin activations. Customers can activate a RedCoin wallet after updating PayMe, without opening another account or maintaining a minimum balance, according to HSBC’s launch information. The rollout is staged, and the bank expects the service to become fully available before the weekend. PayMe users can select the wallet for transfers and merchant payments within the app. HSBC plans to add RedCoin to its Hong Kong mobile banking app by the end of 2026. The bank says that integration will allow customers to subscribe to tokenized money-market funds, with subscriptions starting at HK$100. Tokenized gold and funds offered by third parties are planned for a later stage, but no launch dates for those products were provided. HSBC says RedCoin can be redeemed one-for-one for Hong Kong dollars and is backed by segregated assets. The sources do not establish which blockchain...