The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is consulting the industry on the revised encryption asset regulatory policy manual.

On September 11, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released a new regulatory policy manual outlining the classification of crypto assets under the Basel capital rules. Starting from January 1, 2026, Hong Kong will implement the Basel framework by amending its capital, disclosure, and significant risk exposure rules. The manual classifies crypto assets into two groups. The first group consists of tokens linked to traditional assets and stablecoins with effective stability mechanisms, which will be treated similarly to equivalent traditional assets. The second group includes unsecured tokens, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as ineligible tokenized assets and stablecoins, which will be subject to comprehensive capitalization and stricter treatment. Stablecoins licensed under Hong Kong's latest Stablecoin Regulation will be regarded as lower-risk assets. Industry participants can submit comments on the revised rules before October 10. (Jin10)