Fosun Group bets on stablecoin

Author: Martin

A giant industrial company with total assets of nearly 800 billion has officially joined the stablecoin competition, with the founder personally leading the team to meet with two top financial officials in Hong Kong within a day.

On August 6, 2025, Guo Guangchang, the founder of Fosun International, personally led the core team and executives of the company's stablecoin division to meet with Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee, and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, within a single day. As the direct superior agency of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Treasury plays a key role in the approval of stablecoin licenses!

Behind this efficient meeting is a strategic business decision - Fosun has confirmed its application for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong and has assembled a complete application team, marking the beginning of a new financial chess game worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

As soon as the news broke, the capital market reacted quickly. In the afternoon of August 12, the Hong Kong stock market experienced a wave of fluctuations. The stock price of Fosun International (0656.HK) skyrocketed over 20%, closing with a gain of 13.3%. The market value surged by nearly 6 billion HKD in a single day, reaching a new high since March 2023. The trading volume for the day expanded to over 300 million HKD, with Fosun International's latest market value reaching 50.3 billion HKD.

1. The Entrance Ticket of Giants

In Hong Kong in August, the fintech sector is bustling with activity. On the sixth day after the official implementation of the "Stablecoin Regulation," Fosun founder Guo Guangchang personally led a team into the core office area of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government. This was not an ordinary business visit, but a key action concerning the future fintech landscape of Fosun.

Fosun's bet on the stablecoin license is by no means a whim. Unlike its other businesses in Hong Kong, founder Guo Guangchang seems particularly invested this time, personally leading a team to meet with the two highest financial officials in Hong Kong, which is quite rare in the usually low-key process of applying for financial licenses.

As the direct superior authority of the Monetary Authority, which is the regulatory body for the approval of stablecoin licenses, the Hong Kong Financial Secretary's meeting took place during a critical time window for stablecoin license applications in Hong Kong.

According to the schedule of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, after the government releases the stablecoin application guidelines at the end of July, institutions planning to apply for a license can officially establish contact with the Monetary Authority and other institutions after August 1, and all application materials must be formally submitted before September 30.

Fosun has long shown signs of its layout in the digital asset field. Its subsidiary, Fosun Wealth, has already ventured into Web3 business through the Xinglu Technology platform, participated in the distribution of the Huaxia Fund's money market fund tokenization products, and developed a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform. On July 21, Fosun Wealth submitted trademark registration applications for "Xing Coin" and "FosunWealth RWA" in Hong Kong, laying the groundwork for its stablecoin business.

This series of actions indicates that Fosun is accelerating its stablecoin strategic layout, striving to occupy a favorable position in the issuance of the first batch of stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong.

II. The Enthusiastic Response of the Capital Market

Behind this major move is a rapidly growing global stablecoin market. By July 2025, the total market value of global stablecoins has exceeded $250 billion, an increase of over 1100% compared to 2020, with an annual trading volume reaching $36.3 trillion, surpassing the combined total transactions of Visa and Mastercard for the first time.

The market reacted quickly and strongly to Fosun's entry into the stablecoin sector. During the trading session on August 12th, Fosun International's stock price surged sharply, with a maximum increase of over 20%, reaching HKD 6.44. The trading volume significantly expanded, with the turnover surpassing HKD 300 million, indicating a high level of recognition from investors regarding this strategic transformation.

Fosun International's listed companies also performed strongly, with Fosun Pharma's H shares surging 9.4% in the morning session, marking the largest single-day increase in recent times.

Although the rise of Fosun Pharma is partly due to its $120 million licensing agreement with the American biotech company Expedition, the collective unusual movement of Fosun's stock prices reflects the market's positive expectations for the group's strategic transformation.

Since the beginning of this year, Fosun's performance in the capital market has been quite impressive. By early August, the cumulative increase of Fosun Pharma's H shares had exceeded 40%, far surpassing the 10% increase of A shares during the same period, and significantly outperforming the Hang Seng Hong Kong-listed Biotechnology Index.

3. The global stablecoin market is booming.

Fosun's decision to enter the stablecoin sector is based on a booming global market. By 2025, the total market value of global stablecoins is expected to exceed $250 billion, an increase of over 1100% compared to 2020.

This market clearly shows a dual oligopoly pattern, with the combined market capitalization of the two major stablecoins, USDT and USDC, accounting for 86.5% of the market, but the pattern is quietly changing.

USDC is expected to grow at an astonishing rate of 40.9% in 2025. At this growth rate, USDC is expected to surpass USDT and become the world's largest stablecoin around 2030.

From the application scenario, stablecoins have upgraded from a trading tool for crypto assets to a new global financial infrastructure:

Cross-border payment sector: In 2023, Mexico received remittances amounting to 63.3 billion USD through stablecoins, accounting for nearly its total remittance inflow.

Global salary payments: Users in high-inflation countries such as Argentina and Turkey are using stablecoins as a "digital dollar" hedging tool.

Supply Chain Finance: Enterprises use stablecoins for cross-border payments, reducing settlement time from 3 days to 5 minutes, saving approximately 1.2% in fees per transaction.

Real Asset Tokenization (RWA): Boston Consulting Group predicts that the RWA market size will reach $16 trillion by 2030.

Even more shocking is the actual application scale of stablecoins, with an annual on-chain transfer total reaching 36.3 trillion USD, surpassing the annual transaction totals of traditional payment giants like Visa and Mastercard, becoming a new cornerstone of the global payment network.

From the perspective of user scale, the number of global monthly active stablecoin addresses has exceeded 30 million, and the total number of holding addresses has surpassed 168 million. The proportion of transactions dominated by real users has increased from less than 15% in 2023 to around 22% currently, with the user structure gradually transitioning from arbitrage bots to enterprises and retail investors.

4. Fosun's Digital Asset Layout

Fosun Group has assets of 796.5 billion yuan, with business segments covering multiple fields such as consumption, wealth, and healthcare. In Hong Kong, it owns several listed entities including Fosun Pharma and Fosun Tourism Culture, providing rich scenarios for stablecoin applications.

Fosun's foray into stablecoins is not starting from scratch. Prior to this, Fosun's wealth sector in Hong Kong - Fosun Wealth International Holdings - had already ventured into Web3 business. Public information shows that Fosun Wealth participated in the distribution of three tokenized money market fund products launched by Huaxia Fund, accumulating valuable industry experience.

Fosun Wealth's Xinglu Technology, through its independently developed platform, not only provides traditional financial products but also offers virtual asset products. This year, the company launched a platform for issuing RWA (Real World Assets) products.

RWA tokenizes real-world assets through blockchain technology, including hotel rentals, photovoltaic power generation, stocks, bonds, commodities, etc., enabling them to be traded, managed, and circulated on the blockchain.

In July, Fosun Wealth submitted trademark registration applications for "Xing Coin" and "FosunWealthRWA" in Hong Kong, preparing the brand for its stablecoin business.

Fosun's unique advantage in the stablecoin sector may lie in:

1. Rich industrial ecosystem: Sectors such as healthcare, tourism, and consumption can form a stablecoin application closed loop.

2. Cross-border business layout: Fosun's global business network inherently requires efficient cross-border payment tools.

3. RWA First-Mover Advantage: Its subsidiary Xinglu Technology has the ability to tokenize real-world assets.

The market expects that Fosun may be the first to launch stablecoin applications in the following areas:

Healthcare Payment: Build a healthcare payment system by integrating the Fosun Pharma ecosystem.

Travel consumption scenarios: Stablecoin payments at resorts and hotels under Fosun Tourism Culture.

Cross-border trade settlement: providing efficient settlement tools for Fosun Global Supply Chain

Asset tokenization platform: Tokenizing real estate, hotels, and other assets under Fosun.

Fosun Wealth CEO Cheng Kang stated at the end of 2024 that Xinglu Technology is a key layout for Fosun Group in the fintech field, covering over 200 clients and dedicated to promoting the development of the web3 virtual asset ecosystem. This statement now appears to be a prelude to the cryptocurrency strategy.

5. The Strategic Position of Hong Kong and the Challenges and Future of Stability

As an international financial center, Hong Kong is actively promoting innovative regulatory systems for virtual assets to attract global capital attention. The Hong Kong stablecoin license is the world's first comprehensive regulatory framework specifically for fiat-backed stablecoins.

In terms of regulatory design, Hong Kong requires that stablecoin reserves be fully segregated and custodied at 100%, ensuring the safety of user funds. This strict and clear regulatory framework provides institutional guarantees for financial institutions to participate in stablecoin business.

Local media reports from Hong Kong indicate that multiple international financial institutions and tech giants are actively establishing a presence in the Hong Kong stablecoin market, with application scenarios covering cross-border payments, investment trading, and consumer settlements.

Fosun, as an important Chinese-funded enterprise listed in Hong Kong, has several subsidiaries listed in Hong Kong, including Fosun Pharma and Fosun Tourism Culture. Its deep accumulation in the Hong Kong financial market has become a unique advantage for applying for a stablecoin license.

For Fosun, it is necessary to prove that it has the key capability to issue stablecoins:

Asset reserve management capability: ensure 100% adequate reserves and high liquidity.

Risk control system: Preventing extreme situations such as bank runs.

Compliance operation capability: Meet the strict regulatory requirements of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Guo Guangchang personally led a team to meet with senior officials of the Hong Kong government, demonstrating Fosun's emphasis on compliance and commitment to regulatory authorities. This high-level communication, at a crucial moment in the license application process, could become an important competitive advantage for Fosun.

From a global perspective, stablecoins are becoming a new battleground for financial competition among major countries. Citibank predicts that by 2030, the scale of stablecoins could reach 3.7 trillion dollars, and Hong Kong's pilot participation in standard-setting can avoid the comprehensive dominance of the dollar system in the digital financial order.

Despite the broad prospects of the stablecoin market, it still faces multiple challenges. It is estimated that 70-80% of stablecoin transfer volumes may consist of transfers between bots and exchanges, and the actual usage scale still needs further verification.

The issue of transparency has always troubled the industry, and some mainstream stablecoins have yet to release complete audit reports. The structure of reserve assets and risk exposure has long been a focal point of market controversy. USDT once experienced a depegging due to insufficient reserves, and the market still harbors doubts about its redemption confidence.

The differences in regulatory policies among countries further increase the complexity of global operations. The "GENIUS Act" being advanced in the United States clearly states that stablecoins are not considered securities, prohibits algorithmic stablecoins, and requires that reserves be 100% high-liquidity assets. If officially enacted, it will profoundly affect the operational logic of existing stablecoins and the global compliance structure.

Nevertheless, the future opportunities for stablecoins remain remarkable:

Traditional financial institutions and tech giants have entered the fray, with payment giants introducing stablecoins in B2B settlements.

Users in high-inflation areas view stablecoins as a "digital dollar" hedge tool, with strong demand in emerging markets.

Stablecoins have become the core infrastructure connecting DeFi and RWA, opening up a trillion-dollar market space.

Non-USD stablecoins are in the early stages of development, with the market value of euro stablecoins only at 490 million USD, and even smaller scales for yen and pound. There is huge potential for future development.

There are only six weeks left until the deadline for the Hong Kong stablecoin license application on September 30, and the capital market has cast a vote of approval for Guo Guangchang's decision with a 20% increase.

In the first batch of stablecoin sandbox testing list by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, institutions such as JD.com and Standard Chartered have taken the lead. Meanwhile, Fosun, leveraging its cross-industry ecosystem spanning health, consumption, and tourism, could potentially create a closed loop from consumption scenarios to financial services once it successfully obtains a license, thus building a Fosun ecosystem based on "Star Coin."

In the global stablecoin market with a market cap exceeding $250 billion, non-U.S. dollar stablecoins account for less than 1%. When Fosun's "Star Coin" finally debuts, it will carry not just the transformation dreams of a single enterprise, but may also become a cornerstone in reshaping Hong Kong's status as an international financial center. The boundaries between traditional finance and crypto assets are gradually melting away in the footsteps of these giants.

The global stablecoin market is racing at a speed of over 40% annually, with the core range of stablecoin trading volume in 2025 being: a global total of approximately $10 trillion (conservative) to $35 trillion (on-chain transfer volume), with Hong Kong accounting for $1.5 trillion (15% of global cross-border payments). When traditional industry giants meet the new wave of financial technology, Fosun's bold move may determine its new position in the era of digital economy.