HSBC activated RedCoin, a stablecoin backed by the Hong Kong dollar, inside the PayMe payment app, with more than 100,000 merchants accepting it. On the same day, Anchorpoint, a joint venture led by Standard Chartered, said it won’t rush its own retail version.
In the United States, the OCC encouraged community banks to apply for authorization as payment stablecoin issuers, just days after finalizing its GENIUS Act rules. Canada published the text of the rules it will apply to issuers, with a 1% cap on redemption fees and a ban on interest.
The edition also covers the central banks of Malaysia and Thailand joining Singapore’s cross-border settlement initiative, and Tether’s investment in a Bolivian fintech that handles payments in USDT.
Lumx News
The third edition of Lumx Connference takes place on December 3 in São Paulo, in a closed, invitation-only format, focused on discussing this year’s regulatory changes and the outlook for 2027. In its first two editions, the event brought together Brazil’s Central Bank, the CVM, BTG Pactual, Fenasbac, and law firms working on the regulatory front lines, along with leaders from banks, fintechs, and infrastructure companies. The panel lineup and guest list are being put together. More news soon.
On the product side, Auto Ramp now supports euros and pounds, joining Brazilian reais, Mexican pesos, and U.S. dollars. The rule is set up once on a named account and automatically converts every incoming deposit into USDC or USDT, with no API call per deposit. The euro rule returns an IBAN and BIC, and the pound rule returns a sort code and account number, so the payer simply makes a regular bank transfer. Details are in the documentation changelog.
Stablecoins accounted for 95.9% of the crypto volume reported to Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service in May, the highest level on record, and 92% in the first half of the year, compared to 78% in the same period last year. In an interview with Cripto na Real on CNN Brasil Money, Caio Barbosa, founder and co-CEO of Lumx, said that usage came before the regulatory framework, and that the Central Bank’s inclusion of these operations in the foreign exchange market gave formal structure to a practice that was already happening at scale. The clip is available here.
A Bank Put a Stablecoin in 3.3 Million Wallets
In short:
HSBC activated RedCoin, a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, inside the PayMe app, with more than 100,000 merchants accepting it.
The stablecoin runs on the bank’s own private ledger, and balances don’t move between PayMe and the banking app.
About $10.2 million was in circulation shortly after launch, backed by $10.4 million in cash.
The bank switched RedCoin on Friday, with an issuer license obtained from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April. The two numbers in the announcement measure different things: the 3.3 million users eligible to activate the wallet describe reach, while the $10.2 million in circulation describes usage. RedCoin is not a deposit, so it isn’t covered by the local statutory protection scheme, and the first independent attestation of reserves is expected after the fourth quarter.
On the same day, Anchorpoint, Standard Chartered’s joint venture with Animoca Brands and HKT, declined to confirm the retail timeline it had pointed to for the end of 2026. CEO Dominic Maffei said that building the market sustainably matters and that rushing the launch doesn’t make sense. The company launched its institutional product in August and plans the retail version on a public network.
The U.S. Regulator Called on Community Banks to Issue Stablecoins
In short:
The OCC encouraged community banks to apply for authorization as payment stablecoin issuers.
The call came after the regulator finalized its GENIUS Act rules, which take effect in January.
The same community banks are suing the OCC over charters granted to crypto companies.
The U.S. banking regulator said on Monday that it is encouraging the development of issuance capabilities within the community banking sector, inviting interested institutions to apply, either directly or through a subsidiary. The invitation arrives in a turbulent environment: in October, the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC, alleging a competitive advantage for crypto companies, while industry associations are challenging the proposed rules on yield.
If community banks enter in volume, they will compete for the share currently held by crypto companies and large institutions. For payment infrastructure operators, this redraws the counterparty map, since an issuing bank has its own balance sheet and its own gateway into each market.
Canada Will Cap Stablecoin Redemption Fees at 1%
In short:
The public comment period runs through December 23, with rules expected to take effect in fall 2027.
Reserves must be one-to-one, in cash and sovereign debt of up to three months, held by a Canadian custodian in a segregated account.
Redemptions must be processed within three business days, with a 1% fee cap, and the interest ban also covers pass-through by third parties.
The Canadian government published the text in the official gazette under the Stablecoin Act passed in March. The Bank of Canada registers and supervises issuers, with fines ranging from C$1 million to C$10 million, and the notice assumes five issuers and about thirty additional payment companies under supervision.
The yield ban is the most detailed part of the text: any arrangement that allows holders to earn from holding the stablecoin counts as an indirect payment, including sharing the issuer’s revenue, while usage-based rewards remain allowed. Canada is the third jurisdiction to reach the same decision in a few weeks, after MiCA and GENIUS, and says it sought consistency with the United States to reduce the burden on multi-jurisdictional issuers. The 1% redemption cap feeds directly into pricing, since it sets the maximum cost of exiting.
Malaysia and Thailand Joined Singapore’s Settlement Initiative
In short:
The central banks of both countries joined BLOOM as policymaking members.
The initiative exists so financial institutions can use stablecoins and tokenized deposits in international payments.
Its scope covers corporate cash management, trade finance, and payments executed by AI agents within predefined limits.
Bank Negara Malaysia and the Bank of Thailand joined on Friday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched BLOOM in October 2025, building on Project Orchid, and participants include Airwallex, Mastercard, Ripple, Visa, and the World Bank.
The stated goal is to reduce the need to set up arrangements with every counterparty and every market, which is the cost that sets the real timeline for international expansion, since entering a new country requires negotiating local banking, local settlement, and local compliance. In February, Malaysia had announced three initiatives to test ringgit stablecoins and tokenized deposits in wholesale payments throughout 2026.
Tether Invested in a Fintech Paying for Food Delivery in USDT in Bolivia
In short:
Peso integrated USDT payments into Yango’s delivery service in Bolivia.
The company offers QR payments, merchant card terminals, and a virtual account connected to the local banking system via ACH.
The round supports expansion into Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina; the amount was not disclosed.
Tether led the pre-seed round of Bolivian startup Peso, which connects the digital dollar to QR payments, merchant terminals, and a virtual account tied to the country’s banking system via ACH transfer. The backdrop is the currency situation: Bolivia abandoned its long-standing peg in June and has been dealing with a prolonged dollar shortage, which has led merchants to accept USDT since 2025.
In November 2025, the government announced plans to integrate crypto assets and stablecoins into the financial system, and in July of this year it began studying a framework that would recognize USDT for payments, savings, and commerce alongside the boliviano and the dollar. The part of the announcement that matters for infrastructure is the ACH virtual account, since a stablecoin becomes a payment only when there’s a local leg the merchant knows how to receive.
Worth Reading
Solar power now generates more electricity worldwide than nuclear. The BBC analyzed Ember data showing that in the twelve months through September 2026, solar produced 13% more electricity than nuclear, after a virtual tie the year before.
A decade ago, solar accounted for 1% of global electricity, and this year it’s close to 10%. Pakistan went from less than 2% in 2019 to about 24%. The explanation combines falling panel prices, cheap Chinese manufacturing, less silicon and silver per panel, efficiency gains, and battery storage. The point that matters to anyone outside the energy sector is about forecasts: Jan Rosenow of Oxford notes that mainstream models underestimated solar year after year, because they extrapolated from the past of a technology whose cost falls along a curve.
→ Read
Story of the Week
Lego announced a partnership with Daft Punk this week, and the origin of the project is more interesting than the announcement itself.
In 2020, during lockdown, Luxembourg’s Patrick Harboun and his son built a model of the pyramid stage from the 2007 Alive tour. They submitted it to Lego Ideas, won the grand prize in the Music to Our Ears challenge, and reached the platform’s 10,000 supporters. That model is becoming the partnership’s first product, six years later.
The launch follows the same logic of treating the audience as participants. On October 21, Lego released a thirty-second teaser featuring a red 2x4 brick, with no text, filmed so that its three inner tubes looked like speakers. The launch film blends both visual languages under the tagline “Builders After All,” and the product doesn’t yet have a price, release date, or final design. Julia Goldin, Lego’s chief product and marketing officer, described the announcement as the beginning of a bigger journey.
→ Read
Further Reading on AI, Markets, and the Infrastructure Around Them
Shinhan Card and SBI will test a yen stablecoin for tourism and commerce between Japan and Korea
South Korea is considering delaying its 22% tax on crypto gains until 2029
This was Stable News, a weekly roundup to keep you up to date on the latest stablecoin developments around the globe.
