This recent wave of regulatory actions has caught quite a few people off guard.

Mainland China moved quickly—13 departments jointly issued a statement, directly classifying stablecoins as illegal financial activities. Not only are issuing and trading banned, but even funding channels are completely blocked. This year alone, 342 cases have been cracked, intercepting nearly 5 billion yuan. The message is clear: pave the way for digital RMB cross-border payments, which is a market worth tens of trillions.

Hong Kong is taking a different approach. After the “Stablecoin Ordinance” was enacted, USDT was delisted for retail investors and is now only accessible to professional investors. Not a single license has been issued yet—non-bank institutions must have a paid-up capital of 25 million HKD, and reserves must be 100% backed by liquid assets. These entry requirements are clearly meant to filter out smaller players: amateurs are sidelined, and capital is steered toward serving real cross-border trade and supply chain businesses.

The market is being reshuffled. In the mainland, OTC USDT trading has plummeted; the era when it held a 90% market share is over. Funds are now either moving toward digital RMB or seeking compliant offshore tools. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is using high entry barriers to attract big players like Sequoia, aiming to establish a new compliant framework.

This tightening at home and loosening offshore is actually part of a bigger strategy: “domestic clean-up, offshore domestication.” Is it the beginning of a golden era for compliant players? Or should ordinary people start planning their exit strategies? Have you adjusted your positions yet?