What to know:

The international unit of Alipay owner Ant Group plans to seek stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Ant International will apply for a stablecoin issuer's license once the regulatory regime comes into effect in August, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm is also planning to apply for a similar license in its native Singapore, as well as Luxembourg.

Hong Kong has been establishing a stablecoin regime since 2023, with the legislation expected to go into effect in August.

Stablecoins are tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, such as a fiat currency, providing a counterweight to the volatility of BTC, ETH and other cryptos.

As such they may represent an entry point to the digital asset market for major financial or technological companies. Progress toward stablecoin regulation in the world's most prominent markets, particularly the U.S., should help accelerate this trend.

Alipay is referred to as the largest mobile payment platform in the world with over a billion users, thanks to being the most dominant provider in China, where it holds a share of 55% in the third-party payment market.

Ant International did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for further comment.