Stablecoins Take the Spotlight at Hong Kong FinTech Week as CBDCs Fade
Once hailed as the future of money, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were barely visible at this year’s Hong Kong FinTech Week. Instead, stablecoins dominated discussions, while Brazil’s pause on its Drex project highlighted how even early CBDC adopters are reassessing their approach.
Six years after China launched its eCNY, the global digital currency narrative has shifted. At FinTech Week, banks, fintechs, and regulators focused on HKD-backed stablecoins and tokenized deposits rather than government-issued digital cash. Private initiatives are increasingly filling the gaps that CBDCs were meant to address.
CBDCs were largely a defensive response. Facebook’s 2019 Libra project, which proposed a global digital currency backed by multiple sovereign assets, spurred central banks into action, fearing private control over global payment networks. But Libra’s failure left CBDCs pursuing an unclear goal, slowly evolving into bureaucratic experiments while the stablecoin market surged ahead.
According to the Atlantic Council, 137 countries and currency unions are exploring CBDCs, covering nearly all of global GDP. Yet only a few — the Bahamas’ Sand Dollar, Jamaica’s Jam-Dex, and Nigeria’s eNaira — have fully launched. Most large economies remain stuck in pilots, committees, and technical studies, uncertain whether the public wants what they are building.
Meanwhile, private-sector stablecoins are gaining traction. “Pretty much all transactions will settle on blockchains eventually, and all money will be digital,” said Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters, highlighting stablecoins as the main force shaping the future of payments.
Market Snapshot
- Bitcoin (BTC): Around $105,930, largely unchanged over 24 hours as the market consolidates following recent volatility.
- Ethereum (ETH): Near $3,578, slightly down amid rotation into Bitcoin and unwinding of leveraged DeFi positions.
- Gold: Up over 2% to roughly $4,085 per ounce, driven by soft U.S. economic data and expectations of a December Fed rate cut.
- Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained nearly 1%, boosted by Wall Street’s rally and optimism over a U.S. government shutdown resolution.
The takeaway is clear: while CBDCs remain mostly experimental, stablecoins are actively shaping the evolving landscape of digital money and payments.
