Ant Group, the Alibaba-affiliated fintech giant behind Alipay, has filed a trademark application for AntCoin in Hong Kong, suggesting possible plans to expand into blockchain-based financial services and stablecoins.
The June presentation has drawn a lot of attention on crypto social media just days before Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing speaks alongside Hong Kong Financial Services Secretary Christopher Hui and Primavera Capital’s Fred Hu at next week’s Hong Kong FinTech Week, which has a packed cryptocurrency agenda for an event that typically focuses on TradFi.
AntCoin’s filing specification covers almost all major financial activities, from traditional banking, lending and foreign exchange to blockchain-based settlements, stablecoin issuance, digital asset custody and loyalty rewards, effectively positioning it as a bridge between Ant’s payments ecosystem and Hong Kong’s regulated Web3 economy.
The move follows Ant’s earlier statement that it was exploring Hong Kong’s new stablecoin licensing regime, which came into effect in August.
Ant Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
