[Digital Today reporter Hyunwoo Choo (추현우)] Asia is emerging as the first large-scale testing ground for stablecoin payment and settlement networks. On Aug. 13 (local time), blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported that Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are moving institutional preparations into real-world use to deploy stablecoins as supervised payment and settlement tools.

The three jurisdictions share a common approach of first setting up regulatory zones and then allowing stablecoins as payment and settlement instruments within them. Visa's 2026 payments outlook report named Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan as places where regulatory clarity for stablecoins is advancing the fastest.

Singapore introduced a stablecoin framework in 2023. As of Aug. 13, 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore includes Circle, Coinbase, BitGo and Anchorage, among others, as major payment institutions that can provide digital payment token services.

Hong Kong implemented its stablecoin ordinance on Aug. 1, 2025, establishing a licensing regime for issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority began accepting licence applications in August 2025 and granted its first two licences on April 10, 2026, to Anchorpoint Financial Limited and HSBC. With the licences issued, Hong Kong has moved beyond rule-making into operating a regulated market.

Japan released a final revision to its crypto travel rule on July 7, adding five jurisdictions. The revision took effect on Aug. 3, 2026. Exchanges and stablecoin service providers must include sender and recipient information with transfers.

Market activity has already grown. Reap, a Hong Kong issuer of stablecoin-linked cards, processes about $6 billion a year. In Reap's business-to-business transaction survey, stablecoin flows rose from less than $100 million a month in early 2023 to more than $3 billion in 2025.

Asia was counted as the largest region, recording $12.5 trillion in stablecoin flows in 2025. Among them, the Singapore-China corridor was the most active. Visa estimated total stablecoin supply at $250 billion, with settlement volume reaching $3.5 billion a year.

A working paper released by the Bank for International Settlements on June 11, 2026, said stablecoin flows do not stop at simple remittances. Of 593 million event records analysed based on 141 million Ethereum transactions in 2025, about one-third of all stablecoin transactions included multiple stages such as trading, borrowing and settlement. About 60 percent of all transfer events also arose from such multi-stage operations.

South Korea has yet to complete its institutional work. As of late June 2026, there was no legal framework related to stablecoins, and implementation of the Basic Digital Asset Act is being delayed by debate over whether banks or fintech firms should issue stablecoins. In the private sector, BDACS began a proof of concept linked to the won in September 2025, and Naver allocated up to 10 trillion won to a stablecoin project.