Tokenised Deposits vs Stablecoins: Why Thailand's Cautious Path Differs from Hong Kong and Singapore - thailand-business
RWA Signal Insight
StablecoinsAsia-Pacific financial institutions are pursuing divergent paths in developing programmable digital money, with Hong Kong and Singapore rapidly advancing tokenized deposits while Thailand adopts a more cautious, sequenced approach towards a baht-pegged stablecoin. Hong Kong's Monetary Authority initiated a tokenized deposit pilot in November 2025, moving to real-value settlement with seven banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, and participants like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, focusing on money market fund transactions through 2026. Standard Chartered and HSBC have already commercialized tokenized deposit solutions with Ant International's Whale platform, facilitating multi-currency treasury flows (HKD, CNH, USD, SGD) and extending services to the US and UAE by H1 2026. This preference for tokenized deposits over stablecoins is driven by regulatory clarity, as frameworks like EU MiCAR and the US GENIUS Act treat tokenized deposits as regulated bank liabilities, sidestepping licensing burdens and offering deposit insurance absent in stablecoins. Meanwhile, Thailand's Bank of Thailand is finalizing a design study for a fully-reserved, baht-backed stablecoin, targeting public hearings by late 2026 and formal regulations by early 2027, initially for wholesale interbank settlement. This strategic divergence highlights a competitive landscape where regulatory philosophy dictates institutional capital and infrastructure investment, with banks increasingly embracing tokenized services to counter potential erosion of transaction fees by corporate stablecoins. IBM's 2026 banking survey found 42% of executives expect major corporations to issue their own stablecoins, prompting 63% of corporate banking executives to see providing tokenized services as their primary role. The contrasting approaches will determine regional leadership in digital asset innovation.
Key points
- Hong Kong HKMA pilot settled real-value tokenized deposits with seven banks.
- Standard Chartered, HSBC commercialized tokenized deposits via Ant International.
- Thailand targets baht-backed stablecoin regulations by late 2026/early 2027.
- Regulatory frameworks favor tokenized deposits over stablecoins for banks.
Background
Tokenized deposits are digital representations of traditional bank deposits, leveraging blockchain technology to enable programmable features and near real-time settlement while remaining regulated bank liabilities. Unlike stablecoins, which are typically cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies and backed by reserves, tokenized deposits benefit from existing bank regulatory frameworks and often carry deposit insurance. This distinction is crucial for institutional adoption, as it addresses compliance and protection concerns for large-value transactions.