Source: Geek Park (ID: geekpark)

Author: Su Zihua

Original title: Liu Qiangdong announced the development of stablecoins, and big companies found a "new gold mine"

Stablecoins are popular.

It may be the hottest technology concept in June besides AI. The enthusiasm of Internet giants for stablecoins has brought it back into the mainstream.

On June 17, 2025, Liu Qiangdong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JD.com Group, said at a sharing session: "JD.com will apply for stablecoin licenses in major currency countries around the world, with the goal of reducing cross-border payment costs by 90% and increasing transfer time to within 10 seconds."

This may be the first time that the founder or CEO of a major Chinese Internet company has publicly expressed his intention to invest in cryptocurrency.

Stablecoin is essentially a type of cryptocurrency.

Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose prices fluctuate wildly, stablecoins maintain price stability by anchoring to fiat currencies (such as the US dollar, Hong Kong dollar, etc.) or assets.

Its main advantages are cost and efficiency. According to a survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the cross-border payment efficiency of stablecoins can be 100 times higher than that of traditional payments, and the cost is more than 10 times lower.

This fintech track, which has always survived in the "gray area" and was a niche fringe, is now exploding. According to public data, in May 2025, the total market value of the global stablecoin market has exceeded US$246.3 billion, an increase of nearly 50 times from 2019.

Moreover, on June 5, Circle, the first stablecoin concept stock, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock price soared 168% on the first day, and its market value exceeded 18.3 billion US dollars, while its employees were less than 1,000. Circle's listing also gave other stablecoin companies great confidence. Recently, Ant Group, Walmart, Amazon and other technology giants have been actively promoting their own stablecoin projects.

In 2014, when JD.com went public in the United States, Liu Qiangdong admitted that the biggest mistake was not planning payment earlier, and was left far behind by Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Nowadays, under the wave of cross-border e-commerce and going overseas, with the influx of major companies, stablecoins have become a new trend that cannot be missed in the payment field.

In the future, how will the use of stablecoins to purchase overseas goods and transfer money across borders become a reality step by step? Will stablecoins become the next main battlefield for giants?

What exactly is JD.com’s stablecoin?

According to information disclosed by JD.com, JD.com's stablecoin, named JD-HKD, is a cryptocurrency pegged 1:1 to the Hong Kong dollar (HKD). That is to say, for each stablecoin issued, there is an equivalent of 1 Hong Kong dollar in highly liquid assets (cash, government bonds, etc.) as support, which is managed by a licensed bank and audited regularly.

JD Stablecoin is issued in Hong Kong by JD CoinChain Technology (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of JD.

The company was registered in March 2024 and holds licenses No. 1, 4 and 9 issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Its business covers securities trading, asset management and blockchain technology development.

JD Stablecoin official website｜Image source: Internet

Currently, JD Stablecoin has entered the second phase of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox" test. (The "Sandbox" is a regulatory system that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority allows institutions that intend to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong to test their operating plans, facilitate two-way communication, and explore the realization of compliance)

So, what is the purpose of JD.com’s stablecoin?

In an interview with TECHHUB NEWS in May, Liu Peng, CEO of JD CoinChain Technology, explained the application scenarios that JD Stablecoin is being tested, mainly including cross-border payments, investment transactions, retail payments, etc.

Combined with public information, the details are as follows:

  • In terms of cross-border payments, currently, cross-border payments mainly rely on the SWIFT system, which takes 2-4 days to complete cross-border transfers and costs 1-3% of the transaction amount. Stablecoins can reduce the time to seconds and reduce costs by 90%.

  • In terms of investment and trading, JD.com is working with compliant cryptocurrency exchanges to support institutional and retail investors in digital asset trading and provide stable pricing and settlement tools.

  • In terms of retail payment, we connect with e-commerce platforms such as JD.com Hong Kong and Macau, and try to support consumers to pay directly with JD-HKD.

It is not difficult to see that JD.com’s ambition in payment covers both the B-end and the C-end.

As Liu Qiangdong said in his sharing on June 17, "After we have completed the B-side payment, we will penetrate into the C-side payment. I hope that one day everyone can use JD Stablecoin to pay when they consume around the world."

The impact of stablecoins on the traditional payment system brings opportunities to e-commerce giants, which means lower transaction costs, faster capital turnover, and the opportunity to overtake in the cross-border trade market.

In addition, stablecoin itself is also a high-profit business.

Taking Circle, whose stock price has just soared since its IPO, as an example, its net profit in 2023 is US$268 million and its net profit in 2024 is US$156 million.

Circle has two main sources of income:

1. Interest income from reserves: Users use fiat money to buy stablecoins, and Circle can invest in low-risk assets (such as U.S. Treasury bonds) to earn interest spreads. According to the financial report, this income accounts for 99% of the total revenue in 2024. It also shows that its business model is highly dependent on interest rates.

 

2. Transaction fees: Service fees are charged in scenarios such as cross-border payments and currency exchanges.

This can be compared to the business model of JD.com's stablecoin, which will not be elaborated here.

Major companies are competing for stablecoins and flocking to Hong Kong

JD.com is not the only giant that has set its sights on stablecoins. Global Internet and financial giants have already heard the news and are taking action.

For example, also in June, Ant International and Ant Digits announced that they would apply for stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore. Ant Digits has set up Hong Kong as its global headquarters and is testing stablecoin applications in the regulatory sandbox, focusing on global treasury management and cross-border payments.

As retail platforms, Amazon and Walmart have similar logic to JD.com in entering the stablecoin market. Walmart is trying to attract users who are not well covered by traditional banks and expand into emerging markets through the low fees of stablecoins.

Xiaomi chose to enter the market lightly, with its subsidiary Tianxing Bank cooperating with JD Coin Chain to develop cross-border payment solutions.

In addition, traditional payment providers (such as Visa and PayPal) have also launched their own stablecoin solutions, trying to maintain market share through cooperation.

For giants, Hong Kong is an excellent location for stablecoins. Hong Kong's unique advantages lie in its status as an international financial center, mature regulatory system and connectivity with the mainland.

In May 2025, Hong Kong passed the (Stablecoin Ordinance), which is the world's first legal currency stablecoin regulatory framework, requiring issuers to hold HK$25 million in paid-in capital and to reserve 1:1 highly liquid assets (such as cash and government bonds) to ensure stability and transparency.

The regulation will come into effect in August 2025.

So far, the powerful players selected have formed three types of forces competing in the Hong Kong stablecoin ecosystem:

  • Chinese technology giants: JD.com, Ant, Xiaomi, etc., relying on e-commerce scenarios and user base, seize cross-border payment and other scenarios;

  • Traditional financial institutions: Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong Telecom, JPMorgan Chase, etc., are planning stablecoin issuance, trading and derivatives businesses, targeting the global financial market;

  • Web3 companies: Yuanbi Technology, which issues the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDR;

The current popularity of stablecoins is largely due to the gradual improvement of supervision. With the acceleration of legislation in Hong Kong, the United States, the European Union and other places, stablecoins have moved from the "gray area" to compliance, allowing large companies and institutions to dare to enter the market.

Standard Chartered Bank predicts that the global stablecoin market will reach US$2 trillion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 58%.

Just as WeChat Pay has reshaped the mobile payment ecosystem, stablecoins may become the "new SWIFT" in the digital age. As more and more heavyweight players enter the market, the competition for dominance in the next generation of global payment networks has begun.

Regulatory compliance and payment experience remain key variables, and their progress may have a profound impact on our daily payment habits and even the future global payment landscape.

*Header image source: Visual China