Hi fintech friends,

From China’s crackdown on "rogue" stablecoins to Ant Group deciding that fixing healthcare is their next big flex, is it just me or has the Asian fintech scene been moving at warp speed these past weeks? There is definitely a lot out in the open right now—keep reading for the rest of the news!

Licensing & Regulations

• China implemented a ban on unapproved Yuan stablecoins and established formal guidelines for the tokenization of assetS.
• Despite the central government’s tightening stablecoin policies, Hong Kong plans to issue first licenses by March.
• Alchemy Pay secured a Virtual Asset Advisory License from Hong Kong.
• PhotonPay secured a new license by DFSA to expand global payment network in UAE.
• Bitget and BlockSec introduced the UEX Security Standard to establish a new safety benchmark for universal cryptocurrency exchanges.

Product & Partnership Launches

• OSL Group launched USDGO, a $50 million USD-pegged stablecoin on the Solana blockchain tailored for institutional use.
• RedotPay introduced a Solana-based crypto card to enable seamless global payments using digital assets at traditional merchant terminals.
• Visa Direct and UnionPay International partnered to enable efficient, real-time cross-border fund transfers into Mainland China.
• PhotonPay partnered with Stripe to enhance its global acquiring capabilities.
• XPENG and Ant’s Antom collaborated to streamline digital payments for electric vehicle charging services, starting in Hong Kong.
• OCBC integrated Weixin Pay into its banking app, allowing Singaporean customers to pay merchants in Mainland China directly.
• Tencent Cloud and Brazilian fintech Treeal launched palm-scanning payments in Brazil.

Financing & Acquisition

• Wonder secured $12 million in venture debt from HSBC to accelerate its strategic expansion across Asia.
• Ant Group identified the healthcare sector as its primary engine for future business growth and digital service diversification.

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