Web 3.0 has become a hot topic for domestic payment institutions in the past two years, from NFTs and the metaverse to cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins. Since the ban on cryptocurrency-related industries in China in 2021, cryptocurrencies have temporarily faded from the view of domestic payment institutions. However, as the global demand for stablecoins has increased, the attention of international and domestic payment giants on stablecoin payments has intensified. So which licensed payment institutions in China have "entered" the stablecoin space? What issues are worth paying attention to?

1. Ban

In September 2021, ten ministries and commissions, including the People's Bank of China, the Cyberspace Administration, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, jointly issued a notice titled "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation." This notice clearly stated that activities related to virtual currencies are considered illegal financial activities, and that services provided by overseas virtual currency exchanges to residents in China via the internet are also illegal financial activities.

The joint issuance by so many departments means that almost all market behaviors related to virtual currencies are prohibited. As of now, there have been no updated laws or regulations to lift this ban or provide further clarification. This makes it illegal for any virtual currency business to operate within mainland China or serve residents there.

Prior to this, major companies had also expressed their positions on the matter.

In 2018, Tencent stated that it would resolutely not provide services related to illegal financial activities such as "ICO token issuance and virtual currency trading," including not providing related payment channels or advertising services. Additionally, during the two sessions that year, Ma Huateng clearly stated that Tencent would not issue virtual currencies, as blockchain was still in its early development stage and needed effective application models. He also noted that issuing a currency would trigger a series of regulatory issues. However, Tencent has never stopped exploring blockchain technology and its applications.

In June 2021, Alipay also issued a statement prohibiting the use of its services for transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, while continuing to conduct comprehensive inspections and crackdowns on virtual currency trading.

However, times have changed, and the development of global stablecoin payments has exceeded many people's expectations, making the integration of Web 2.0 payments (traditional payments) and Web 3.0 payments a hot topic in the industry.

2. Entry

Under the ban in mainland China, the consensus among many companies wanting to enter the cryptocurrency space is to not operate in mainland China, not serve residents there, and not touch any business related to the renminbi. There are clear signs that licensed payment institutions with associated companies entering the cryptocurrency business overseas include JD.com (Online Banking), Ant Group (Alipay), LianLian, YiBao, and others.

In July 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the first batch of "stablecoin issuer sandboxes," which included JD Coin Chain Technology (Hong Kong) Limited among five institutions. With the permission of the Hong Kong government, JD's affiliated company is actively participating in stablecoin research and development. Its official website shows that JD's stablecoin is in the process of being launched, pegged 1:1 to the Hong Kong dollar (HKD), based on a public blockchain, and aims to become one of the leading digital currencies for enterprises and individuals seeking efficient, economical, and secure payment solutions.

Shortly thereafter, AirstarBank (Tianxing Bank), a subsidiary of Xiaomi (whose payment institution is Jiefu Ruitong), announced a partnership with JD Coin Chain to explore stablecoin-based cross-border payment solutions. Thus, Xiaomi can also be considered a clear participant in stablecoin payments.

Additionally, in August 2024, Ant International partnered with DBS Bank to launch a pilot project for "DBS Treasury Tokens" to improve treasury and liquidity management. This pilot runs on its licensed blockchain, facilitating multi-currency treasury and liquidity management for Ant International in various markets.

In December 2024, DFX Labs, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LianLian Digital, obtained a Hong Kong VATP virtual asset trading platform license.

Another Web 3.0 enterprise with "YiBao genes" that has gained significant attention in recent years is KUN. In February 2025, KUN announced it had secured seed round financing of tens of millions of dollars. Its official industry positioning is to build and operate a compliant bridge between stablecoins and fiat currencies to address the challenges of cross-border payments. This can be simply understood as engaging in the acceptance business between stablecoins and fiat currencies.

Perhaps due to compliance considerations, KUN explicitly states on its website that it only provides compliant payment consulting services to clients outside mainland China and the United States.

From an official standpoint, KUN is an overseas ecological partner of YiBao, and KUN's chief advisor is Yu Chen, the president of YiBao Payment. Regarding the relationship between KUN and YiBao, Yu Chen stated, "This brand has nothing to do with YiBao Payment. YiBao Payment operates compliant businesses under central bank supervision, while overseas operations have a different system."

It is worth mentioning that KUN has a deep collaboration with the Hong Kong virtual asset exchange HashKey.

For Web 3.0, Tencent primarily focuses on investment, having invested in Lens Protocol and Chainbase in the past two years, and partnered with Ankr, Avalanche, Scroll, and Sui, all of which are well-known projects in the cryptocurrency industry.

Strictly speaking, PayPal also holds a license in China and issued the USD stablecoin PYUSD two years ago.

The actions of the aforementioned institutions entering the cryptocurrency and stablecoin space can be understood through publicly available information. However, most institutions have not disclosed much about their actions in the stablecoin payment space, or it may not yet be the right time.

3. Doubts

Leading institutions issue coins, mid-tier institutions create trading platforms, and small institutions engage in OTC trading.

This seems to have become the basic judgment for various institutions entering the stablecoin payment space. However, many observing institutions are contemplating when to enter, how to effectively manage risk, and how to gain customer trust in the new business model.

When to enter. From an international regulatory perspective, financial centers such as the United States and Hong Kong are formulating laws and regulations related to stablecoins. The timing of their formal introduction and how to operate has become a focal point for many. Additionally, based on the demand for trade payments, many payment companies are observing the overall customer demand for stablecoin payments to plan their next steps. Some institutions may not have taken visible actions, but based on customer needs, they are still somewhat involved in stablecoin-related activities overseas.

Risk isolation. Given the ban on virtual currencies in mainland China, the best risk isolation measure is to ensure that neither new companies nor new products have any connection to mainland China. A popular approach is to establish independent companies in places like Hong Kong and Singapore, complete the acceptance of stablecoins and fiat currencies, and then engage in mature fiat cross-border payments.

Customer trust. Establishing new companies overseas to conduct business also presents new trust issues. After all, if the new company has no connection to a mainland Chinese company, customers may worry about the risk of the company absconding with funds. Conversely, if the new company is too closely tied to a mainland Chinese company, compliance issues may arise. How to manage the delicate relationship between the new and old business models is also a test of the wisdom of payment companies.

"In Web 2.0, you can only do payments, but in Web 3.0, you can take on any financial role." Currently, the relevant regulatory measures for Web 3.0 are still not perfect, leading many practitioners to express such sentiments.

From a trend perspective, as Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 converge, the stablecoin payment-related business models need to gain broader recognition, which will inevitably require greater compliance. The fundamental logic of finance is the transmission of trust, and having government endorsement, actively embracing regulation, and issuing licenses are the most direct ways to achieve this.

However, before that, as long as the law does not prohibit it, one can act as one wishes.

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