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- JD.com, a Chinese firm, is rolling out a stablecoin initiative aimed at slashing cross-border payment costs by as much as 90%.
- This comes as GENIUS ACT has been moved to the House of Representatives after getting a bipartisan vote of 68 to 30.
JD.com, China’s $90 billion e-commerce giant, is preparing to revolutionize cross-border transactions, and it’s placing a significant bet on stablecoins to facilitate this for its customers. In a recent forum held in Beijing, founder and chairman Liu Qiangdong shared the company’s bold new vision: a future where international payments are lightning-fast, low-cost, and powered by blockchain.
The first step? Launching a stablecoin backed by the Hong Kong dollar by the end of 2025, with plans to support more global currencies down the line.
Cross-Border Payments
Liu explained that the goal is to reduce cross-border payment fees by up to 90% and bring settlement times down to under 10 seconds. Imagine transferring funds from Beijing to Bangkok in the time it takes to send a text. That’s the kind of speed JD is aiming for, and it’s not just for businesses. Once proven stable, the company wants to roll this tech out to everyday shoppers. That could mean integrating stablecoin payments directly into JD’s checkout experience, giving nearly 600 million users a new way to pay, quickly, digitally, and without traditional banking delays.
To power this leap forward, JD is leaning on its own blockchain infrastructure, Zhizhen Chain, which is already facilitating around $7 billion a year in supply chain finance. Liu was clear: “We hope to apply for our stablecoin license in all major sovereign currency countries,” adding confidently, “We can reduce payment costs by 90% and deliver within 10 seconds.” JD’s vision is a glimpse at how digital money might soon work on a global scale.
In today’s stablecoin market, where giants like USDT and USDC dominate over 80% of the volume, new entrants need more than just regulatory approval to stand out. That’s especially true for stablecoins issued in Hong Kong, which, despite offering the appeal of being fully licensed and compliant, still need strong real-world use cases to compete.
Hong Kong has taken a major step forward with the recent gazetting of its “Stablecoin Ordinance” on May 30. This new law officially sets the stage for regulating stablecoin activities tied to the city and the Hong Kong dollar. As CNF reported, this will go into effect on August 1 and puts Hong Kong among global leaders, alongside Singapore, the European Union, and the U.S., in establishing frameworks for fiat-backed digital currencies.
Back in December 2023, the city announced its intent to regulate fiat stablecoins through a formal licensing system. By July 2024, JD Coin Chain and two other institutions had already joined the regulatory sandbox, a controlled environment for testing stablecoin issuance under real conditions.
The GENIUS Act
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, the United States is also stepping up. Just this week, the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, the first major piece of U.S. legislation focused on stablecoins, with a strong bipartisan vote. If it clears the House, it would require stablecoin issuers to back their tokens 1:1 with liquid assets like U.S. dollars or Treasury bills, comply with anti-money laundering standards, and undergo regular audits.
Analysts currently peg the global stablecoin market at around $250 billion, with expectations it could balloon to nearly $1 trillion by 2030, driven by increasing regulatory clarity and growing adoption.
