Hong Kong issues warning to fake stable coins posing as HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial

Hong Kong financial authorities issued alerts to investors after scam stablecoins have started trading under the names of newly licensed issuers HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial. The fraudulent tokens are said to have used the ticker symbols “HKDAP” and “HSBC.”.

The news comes at a delicate time for Hong Kong‘s digital asset industry, with the city just starting to implement the formal licensing system for its stablecoins.

Fake tokens, flagged by regulators are held off before launch

As told by HKMA, neither HSBC nor Anchorpoint Financial has issued any regulated stablecoins to general public. However, unregulated tokens have already shown up in secondary markets and online trading groups as pseudo products.

The HKMA stressed that:

The present situation is that the two licensed stablecoins suppliers verified that they have not issued any regulated stablecoins in the market.

This specification is designed to prevent investors from inadvertently investing in unregulated digital assets that are relatively high risk.

Manner of operation of this scam:

Initial reports indicate that the coins have been traded as early-access editions of future stable coins associated with these 2 regulated institutions. By using well-recognized company names such as HSBC and HKDAP, fraudsters are trying to benefit from the trust and reputation of successful financial companies.

There are no reserves, regulated custody arrangements or audited frameworks. These tokens are essentially un-backed in a real-world sense and, in fact, exist as entirely fictitious or cynical tokens without providers of genuine redemption or value.

Officials have noted such schemes tend to prey on groups of victims by leveraging hype cycles around anticipated crypto regulation or institutional utilization.

Hong Kong New Stablecoin Regime

Hong Kong rolled out its stablecoin licensing framework in August 2025 as part of an effort to establish itself as a regulated digital asset center in Asia. Under the regime there are rigorous standards relating to reserve backing, transparency on the part of the issuer, risk and AML controls.

A month ago, the city approved its first stablecoin issuers after new regulations came into effect, with HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial being licensed.

These approvals are considered a major milestone towards bringing banking institutions into the fold of blockchain based payment systems. Yet now the regulators argue that malicious actors are trying to take advantage of the public awareness of the projects before any official stablecoins are released.

HKMA Sounds Investors Caution

The HKMA alerted general members of the public to check validity to be identified with any digital asset that is claimed linked to licensed institutions. Moreover, it pointed out there are no any regulated stablecoin products available at present within the new licensing framework.

Investors are advised to:

Refrain from using known the card issuer or bank on a token without approval.

Official Announcements from Hong Kong Persons/Authorized Institutions/ HKMA.

Be wary of presale offers using stablecoins or early trading programs.

Inform regulators and exchanges about any questionable listings of currencies

The regulator further pointed out that unstable coins, which are not authorized to use the payment system have no protection of the law in Hong Kong as a consequence investors will have no legal remedies if they lose their money.

Increasing Risk Of Brand-faking In Crypto Market

This is a case in a long list of situations where scammers are falsely claiming large institutions in the digital assets industry to have support. Stablecoins are especially vulnerable because investors see them as much safer investments than the more volatile cryptocurrencies.

Such as the experts have pointed out that the fraudster can have a ready imitator before any given financial product hits the shelves when additional global regulation continue to grow.

What this means for investors:

The appearance of fake “HKDAP” and “HSBC” tokens highlights what, in a rapidly changing crypto environment, has become a fundamental problem. That is, the most advanced regulations are not designed to eradicate scams immediately, but rather, they can provide fertile ground for all kinds of distortion.

For Hong Kong, the emphasis now is not only the licensing but also effective and quick bottom public announcements to prevent confusions in between the genuine one and the fake one.

Once fully regulated stablecoins are released, regulators will likely enhance their monitoring of token listings and intensify efforts to shut down illegal issuers.

Here is the message from regulators for the time being: Without being disclosed by licensed issuers or the HKMA, it is nothing, it would not come.