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 filing has drawn significant attention on crypto social media just days before Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing is scheduled to speak alongside Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services Christopher Hui and Primavera Capital’s Fred Hu at next week’s Hong Kong FinTech Week, which has a crypto-heavy agenda for an event that is usually TradFi-focused.
The AntCoin filing’s specification spans nearly all major financial activities, from traditional banking, lending, and FX to blockchain-based settlement, 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 took effect in August.
Ant Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.