Bill Winters made a forecast at Hong Kong FinTech Week, while praising the city’s digital asset regulatory leadership.
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters stated on Nov. 3 that he believes all global transactions will eventually settle on blockchains and all money will be digital. Winters made the comments during a panel discussion at Hong Kong FinTech Week.
Winters described the anticipated transition as a fundamental restructuring of the financial system, according to CNBC. However, he acknowledged that the industry does not know exactly how this transformation will occur and emphasized the need for continued experimentation.
Fundamental restructuring faces uncertain path
HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery joined Winters on the same panel and expressed optimism about Hong Kong’s fintech future. Winters praised Hong Kong’s leadership in digital asset regulation and its willingness to support blockchain experimentation. Other financial leaders, including the CEOs of BlackRock and Robinhood, have recently made similar predictions about the tokenization of traditional assets.
Bank advances stablecoin and trading initiatives
Standard Chartered announced a joint venture with Animoca Brands and HKT in February 2025 to pursue a license for issuing an HKD-backed stablecoin. The partnership brings together the bank’s financial infrastructure, Animoca Brands’ Web3 expertise, and HKT’s mobile wallet capabilities. Standard Chartered participated in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s stablecoin issuer sandbox, which launched in July 2024.
Multiple institutions are competing to build payment settlement networks through stablecoin initiatives, according to a recent stablecoin ‘infrastructure war’ report.
Beyond stablecoins, Standard Chartered launched an integrated spot trading service for Bitcoin BTC $88 069 24h volatility: 1.5% Market cap: $1.76 T Vol. 24h: $65.59 B and Ether ETH $2 964 24h volatility: 4.6% Market cap: $358.75 B Vol. 24h: $38.40 B in July 2025 for institutional clients via its UK branch. The service offers Bitcoin (XBT/USD) and Ether (XET/USD) trading pairs. The bank has expanded its digital asset offerings through partnerships, including StanChart’s institutional crypto custody services with OKX in Europe.
Hong Kong regulators have established multiple sandbox programs and regulatory frameworks to position the city as a global digital asset hub. The government has supported blockchain innovation through licensing regimes and pilot programs for financial institutions. The Hong Kong Blockchain Week started Nov. 3 and will last until Nov. 7.
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