Ant and JD.com's stablecoin gamble: is it a business extension or an outpost of "on-chain sovereignty"?

Written by: Sanqing

Introduction

On August 1, 2025, Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Ordinance" will be officially implemented, which clearly requires all stablecoin issuance activities pegged to fiat currencies to apply for a license and meet regulatory standards such as reserves, audits, and KYC/AML. Just as this policy "red line" was drawn, Ant Group and JD.com announced their entry into the stablecoin business almost simultaneously, becoming the first batch of Chinese technology giants to enter the license track.

On the surface, this is a technological upgrade for enterprises to respond to policies and embrace Web3. However, if we deeply analyse its layout motivation and technical architecture, we will find that this is actually a deep experiment in the name of "stablecoin" and "sovereign finance" and "on-chain clearing network".

1. Why Ant and JD.com? They are not here to replace USDT

Ant and JD.com's entry into stablecoins, not so much to follow the trend of crypto, but to try to reshape the role of the RMB in the cross-border financial order. Unlike crypto-native projects, their goal is not to create a payment tool that can be circulated in the DApp world:

for Ant, stablecoins are the last link to complement its cross-border payment closed loop, and it is the fiat currency layer of "Alipay+ on the chain"

For JD.com, stablecoins are a "on-chain liquidity tool" that opens up overseas e-commerce platforms, supply chain financing, and overseas warehouse settlement systems,

both of which have a common goal: to build their own RMB Zone on Chain", testing the new technological path of "RMB internationalisation" on the institutional springboard of Hong Kong.

2. Ant: Burying a "RMB Highway" with Stablecoins

June 2025, Ant International and Ant Digital both announced that they would apply for stablecoin licenses. Ostensibly, the former is responsible for the global payments business, while the latter focuses on digital financial technology. But judging from its RWA pilot and global bank cooperation route, what Ant really wants is to lead a financial infrastructure that is "denominated in RMB + on-chain clearing".

• Ant Digital has completed the RWA project in Hong Kong in 2024, tokenising the revenue rights of new energy charging piles and completing on-chain financing settlement.

• Ant International and Deutsche Bank announced a strategic cooperation to study the combination of tokenised bank deposits and stablecoins, and explore alternative paths for global corporate payment and clearing.

• Alipay+ currently has a large user base in many Asian countries, and once the stablecoin is embedded in its underlying settlement, it will have the technical conditions of "RMB instead of USD".

In other words, Ant is not making products, but designing an on-chain channel for the RMB to go global. Stablecoins are just the most "mild" technical expression.

3. JD.com: Self-built "on-chain settlement internal circulation" for the supply chain

Compared with Ant's global financial ambitions, JD.com is more like a "pragmatist": from 2024, it will participate in the HKMA's stablecoin sandpit through its JD coin chain technology, and develop stablecoins anchored to the Hong Kong dollar, targeting not individual users, but the "settlement internal circulation" in its merchant, logistics, warehousing, and payment systems.

The logic behind JD.com's move is:

• global account period of export e-commerce is lengthy and the settlement is complex, and the stablecoin can enable JD.com to form an efficient and clear ledger system between "platform - overseas warehouse - merchants"

• Cooperation with Airstar Bank shows that its goal is not only to issue coins, but also to build a small-scale settlement network, and finally rebuild the "JD business district" on the chain

• JD.com does not want to become a crypto payment giant, but a commercial infrastructure operator with low trust cost and high mobility efficiency.

Fourth, the common appeal of the two models: do not rely on the dollar, do not wait for the central bank

ant and JD.com have the same route, but their common points are:

• both are issued in Hong Kong, because mainland policies do not allow it, and the Hong Kong system is "measurable and controllable"

Neither chooses

• USDT/USDC, because relying on the US dollar system will make it impossible for them to grasp financial sovereignty

In other words, they chose an intermediate solution - through CNH or HKD stablecoins, to build a private settlement channel for RMB in advance, rather than waiting for sovereign arrangements. This is both a reaction to market opportunities and a realistic compromise.

5. Risks and prospects: Who will go to the sovereignty of on-chain currency?

If Hong Kong does allow the large-scale promotion of licensed stablecoins, the party that controls circulation, accounts and infrastructure in the future will have a higher level of "transaction governance" than banks. Ant and JD.com are trying to become the rule-makers of this "financial intermediary." But they also face a number of challenges:

• Can a technology trust mechanism meet regulatory requirements?

• Will cross-border flows lead to grey zone disputes over capital regulation?

• Will the US and the EU see the "Chinese stablecoin network" as a challenge and put pressure on Hong Kong?

• Will Ant or JD.com be required to associate with Chinese SOEs/official liquidation agencies and thus take back their dominance?

Conclusion: Stablecoins are an experiment of "first-mover sovereignty" in which

Ant and JD.com make stablecoins, not to compete with USDT for market share, nor to find use cases for the blockchain.

What they are doing is a "market-based version" of the renminbi financial network. Before the sovereign could come out, they made a move.

Hong Kong's stablecoin system is a "moderate change" in the financial order. Whether this network construction, led by technology companies and promoted by business logic, can eventually become part of the Chinese-style monetary system will be a question worthy of long-term attention. In this sense, stablecoins are not financial products, but a political act that occurs in advance.