Anchorpoint retail stablecoin launch on public blockchain

Anchorpoint, the stablecoin-issuing joint venture led by Standard Chartered, plans to release a retail stablecoin product on a public blockchain. The launch is tentatively placed in December 2026, and no exact date has been confirmed.

What is happening

Anchorpoint released its institutional stablecoin product in August. The company has said its retail product could arrive as early as the end of 2026, but at a press conference held shortly after HSBC launched its RedCoin it did not confirm a launch date. Because the timing rests on an earlier statement of "as early as" and not on a firm commitment, the date should be treated as unconfirmed.

Anchorpoint CEO Dominic Maffei described the retail launch as the company's next major milestone, aimed at bringing regulated digital money into everyday payments and commercial applications. He stressed a "prudent approach," noting that a stablecoin on a public blockchain raises many considerations when applied to retail users, and that "rushing something or doing something the wrong way does not make sense."

Anchorpoint works under a business-to-business-to-consumer model, building what Maffei called an open and inclusive ecosystem with partners across the value chain. Last month the company started the Tokenised Money Adoption Programme to support education, research and dialogue around tokenised money. Maffei named cross-border payments as a key use case and said the goal is to connect Hong Kong to other corridors; the company previously worked in the United Arab Emirates and will share updates as further corridors go live.

Why it matters

The announcement comes as competition in Hong Kong's regulated stablecoin market takes shape. HSBC recently launched its Hong Kong dollar-backed RedCoin for the 3.3 million users of its PayMe app. A retail product from a Standard Chartered-led issuer would add another bank-backed option aimed at everyday payments, rather than only institutional use.

For market participants, the event is mainly a signal about how regulated stablecoins on public blockchains may expand into consumer payments and cross-border transfers. The specific coin, its currency peg and its distribution have not been named in the sources, so details remain to be seen. Tokenised financial products, including stablecoins, are also expected to be a central topic at next month's FinTech Week x StartmeupHK, which may bring further commentary.

Key details

• Date: December 2026 (month precision; tentative, no launch date confirmed)
• Project: Anchorpoint (Standard Chartered-led joint venture)
• Coins: not specified
• Category: Product Release
• Status: tentative
• Source: South China Morning Post - https://www.scmp.com/business/cryptocurrency/article/3372060/standard-chartered-led-anchorpoint-plans-retail-stablecoin-hsbc-redcoin-launches