Text | RWA Knowledge Circle
Compiled | RWA Knowledge Circle
I. Hong Kong's Stablecoin New Regulations are Implemented, but Stablecoins are far more than just fiat-pegged!
Hong Kong's (Stablecoin Regulation) will officially take effect on August 1, 2025, marking a key step in the regulatory framework for crypto assets in the Asian financial hub. However, most people still perceive stablecoins as 'pegged 1:1 to the US dollar.' In fact, there are over a hundred global stablecoin projects, with significant differences in design logic and application scenarios. This article will systematically review the four major types of stablecoins and analyze their deep impacts on enterprise operations.
II. In-Depth Analysis of Four Major Types of Stablecoins and Their Enterprise Applications
1. Fiat-Collateralized Stablecoins (e.g., USDT, USDC)
Enterprise Application Value:
Such stablecoins, with their strong peg to fiat currencies, allow enterprises to effectively avoid exchange rate risk during cross-border payments and trade settlements; at the same time, their extensive liquidity on exchanges significantly reduces friction costs for enterprises conducting crypto asset exchanges. However, enterprises must be wary of the credit risks associated with centralized institutions, such as the brief decoupling of USDC caused by the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in 2023, and the sensitivity of regulatory policies requires enterprises to continuously track the compliance dynamics of issuers. If a legal team lacks experience in crypto asset compliance, it will be unable to meet the timeliness requirements for ongoing regulatory tracking.
Core Feature:
Issuance Mechanism: Issued by centralized institutions pegged 1:1 to fiat reserves (e.g., USDT claims each is exchangeable for 1 USD)
Stability Maintenance: Completely reliant on the transparency of the issuer's fiat reserves
2. Decentralized Over-Collateralized Stablecoins (e.g., DAI)
Enterprise Application Value:
This type is particularly suitable for enterprises to build censorship-resistant DeFi payment systems by avoiding single points of failure, while users' high degree of control over assets is conducive to the development of on-chain automated financial tools. However, enterprises must bear the cost of low capital efficiency—over 150% collateralization limits liquidity utilization, and they must also guard against balance sheet volatility caused by collateral liquidation in extreme market conditions.
Core Feature:
Issuance Mechanism: Users over-collateralize ETH and other crypto assets to generate (e.g., 1 ETH collateral yields $1500 DAI)
Stability Maintenance: Reliance on smart contract liquidation mechanisms and collateral rate control
3. Algorithmic Stablecoins (e.g., Frax)
Enterprise Application Value:
The capital efficiency released by the lack of collateral design gives enterprises a significant advantage in high-frequency small payment scenarios, and the decentralized issuance model further lowers the technical access threshold. However, the UST collapse, which resulted in over $40 billion in short-term losses for enterprises, warns us that its stability fragility could cause devastating impacts, and the complex algorithmic mechanisms also require enterprises to seek collaboration with professional auditing institutions. However, for enterprises without experience but wanting to try the RWA sector, finding auditing institutions with relevant experience is a difficult task.
Core Feature:
Issuance Mechanism: Dynamically adjusting supply and demand through algorithms (e.g., Frax uses partial collateral + algorithmic control)
Stability Maintenance: Reliance on market arbitrage mechanisms and protocol bond design
4. Interest-Generating Stablecoins (e.g., USDe, sUSDa)
Enterprise Application Value:
The characteristic of earning interest while holding allows enterprises to gain an additional 5-15% return on idle funds. This dual function of 'value storage + income generation' is reshaping enterprises' financial management logic. However, income sources highly depend on protocol profitability (e.g., Lido staking income fluctuations), and multi-layered asset portfolios increase risk control complexity, requiring professional teams to monitor mechanism health in real time.
Core Feature:
Issuance Mechanism: Based on collateral asset income distribution (e.g., USDe pegged to ETH staking returns)
Stability Maintenance: Dual reliance on collateral value and sustainability of income generation mechanism
III. Chinese Enterprises Accelerate Layout in the Stablecoin Sector
Domestic Dynamics: With the clarification of Hong Kong's stablecoin regulatory framework, domestic enterprises have significantly accelerated their exploration of the stablecoin sector. Several technology and e-commerce groups, including JD and Ant, have launched relevant R&D plans, expecting to introduce enterprise-level payment solutions for cross-border trade scenarios by Q4 2025. Such layouts generally focus on optimizing supply chain settlement efficiency through stablecoin technology, shortening cross-border payment cycles, and exploring integration paths for on-chain financial services.
As Hong Kong's new regulations provide a clear compliance path, many small and medium-sized enterprise owners have yet to realize: their cross-border trade, supply chain management, or Web3 businesses are losing 15% to 30% of operational efficiency each year due to the lack of stablecoin tools. Three types of enterprises will benefit first:
Cross-Border Trade Enterprises: Reduce SWIFT settlement costs by 97% and 3-5 days of account period
Supply Chain Management Enterprises: Achieve minute-level on-chain payments for multi-level suppliers
Web3 Ecosystem Enterprises: Build compliant fiat payment channels to enhance user experience
Action Recommendation: The aforementioned transformation dividends must be realized through professional RWA accelerator institutions—providing full-cycle services from compliance framework design and technical implementation to liquidity introduction, helping enterprises avoid 90% of trial-and-error costs.
IV. Stablecoins are just the tip of the iceberg in the RWA sector
Stablecoins, as the primary form of Real World Assets (RWA), have more scenarios waiting to be developed:
Real Estate Tokenization: Fractionalization of commercial real estate reduces investment thresholds
Carbon Credit Tokenization: Programmable trading of corporate ESG assets
Bill Digitization: Commercial acceptance bills circulating on-chain
However, RWA issuance must overcome three barriers:
Compliance Framework: Must meet regulatory requirements such as securities law, anti-money laundering, cross-border data flow, etc.
Technical Solution: Asset on-chain oracle mechanism, liquidation logic design
Ecosystem Integration: Coordination among exchanges, custodians, and auditing institutions
In the face of these barriers, for enterprises exploring the RWA sector, lacking practical experience means that a systematic knowledge framework and skill reserve become key to breaking through. Focusing on practical courses in the RWA field can provide such support—these courses gather senior experts in compliance, technology, and ecosystem integration, deeply dissecting stablecoin design logic and the entire process of asset tokenization, combined with cutting-edge policy cases like Hong Kong's new regulations, guiding enterprises step by step to build compliance frameworks, implement technical solutions, and achieve ecosystem synergy. For novice enterprises just stepping into RWA or practitioners seeking competitive leaps, such learning opportunities can help them quickly grasp key points, steadily progress in the RWA sector, and avoid unnecessary detours.
