Ant Group, the Alibaba-affiliated fintech giant behind Alipay, has filed a trademark application for AntCoin in Hong Kong, suggesting possible expansion plans into blockchain-based financial services and stablecoins.
The June filing attracted considerable 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 crypto-heavy agenda for an event typically focused on TradFi.
The AntCoin filing specifications cover almost all major financial activities, from traditional banking, lending and foreign exchange 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 studying Hong Kong’s new stable licensing regime, which came into effect in August.
Ant Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
