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The Hong Kong stablecoin regulatory regime is set to go live on August 1, but so far, the Monetary Authority has issued no licences.

Hong Kong Stablecoin Licences May Arrive Early 2026

In a press release, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has shared explanatory notes and guidelines related to the new stablecoin regulatory regime that will be implemented at the start of August.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin bill, officially known as Stablecoins Ordinance, was passed by the Legislative Council back in May. The law mandates that any entity seeking to issue fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRSs) within the city must obtain a licence from the HKMA.

The bill is set to be in effect from August 1, but so far, no issuer has received a licence from the regulator. “In future, the public may refer to the register of licensed stablecoin issuers as shown on the HKMA’s website,” read the press release. Naturally, the list is empty for now.

The regulator cautioned:

Members of the public are advised to stay vigilant to any persons who claim to be regulated or licensed stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, as well as those who claim to be applying for a licence.

HKMA has encouraged parties interested in becoming an issuer to contact the regulator for feedback by August 31. It has also said that those who wish to be considered early can submit an application by September 30.

The first batch of licences may not be granted until early next year, as reported by Reuters. Also, Darryl Chan Wai-man, deputy chief executive at HKMA, has revealed that only a handful of FRS issuers will get in during this initial batch.

As previously reported by Bitcoinist, HKMA CEO Eddie Yue has cautioned against excessive speculation brewing in the sector ahead of the Stablecoins Ordinance, noting that many applicants are still in the conceptual phase. On that note, the Hong Kong regulator said in the press release:

The HKMA would like to remind market participants to exercise due caution in their public communications, as well as refrain from making statements that could be misinterpreted or create unrealistic expectations.

One clause that stands out in the anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines is that FRS issuers might be required to verify the identity of all stablecoin holders, an approach notably stricter than most other jurisdictions.

“Considering Hong Kong’s well-established systems, we do not expect to achieve large-scale [stablecoin adoption] immediately in the early stages,” Chan told South China Morning Post. “Instead, we aim to progress step by step, gradually driving the digital transformation of Hong Kong.”

Bitcoin Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $117,800, down 1% in the last week.

The price of the coin appears to have been moving sideways recently | Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com

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Assume S I want to send it 3 Sit down R. You can assume that further S Each local channel has sufficient liquidity 3 soil. It also assumes channel fluidity (A,R), (B,R) and (C,R) It is distributed evenly.

One optimally reliable payment flow in this diagram looks like this:

1 sat: S --> A --> R   probability: 2/3
2 sats: S --> B --> R  probability: 3/5

This flow has a total probability 2/3*3/5 = 2/5 = 0.4 = 40%

question:

How to calculate the expected value of the arrival of Satoshu R if S send 3?

Option a

(I already know I’m wrong, but I think some people have similar initial thoughts, so I’ll write it down)

At first I thought this was just right 3 sats * 2/5 = 6/5 sats = 1.2 sats This is obtained by multiplying the amount of transmission with the probability of flow. This seems strange when sending two SATs S-->B-->R There is a chance of 3/5 And with the above reasoning 2 sats * 3/5 = 6/5 sats = 1.2 sats. The expected value of 1 is sitting along S-->A-->B The path is bigger 0 This is inconsistent with the expected additive.

Option b

Starting with the above reasoning, we add the expected value to the broken path.

E(3 sats) = 1 sat * 2/3 + 2 sat * 3/5 = 10/15 sats + 18/15 sats = 28/15 sats

Option c

Of course, two Satoshi Passes S-->B-->R You don’t need to send it as a single onion as an onion, but you can send it as two onions each with one soil.

The first is the probability 4/5 The second is a conditional probability 3/4 This is widely explained in this issue. You should be able to add these expectations using the logic in option B. Therefore S--> B --> R It is calculated as follows:

E(2 sats) = 1 sat * 4/5 + 1 sat * 3/4 = 31/20 sats 

Add one Saturday onion S-->A-->R That was 2/3 soil

We expect to have

E(3 sats) = 31/20 sats + 2/3 sats = 93/60 sats + 40/60 sats = 132/60 sats = 33/15 sats

This is 5/15 sats = 1/3 sats More than the answer to option b

Option d

Worse, I’m confused if there’s a chance that the expectation of analyzing two SAT onions in option C into two SAT onions could be linearly added, as the second onion is conditional to have two SAT onions in the channel. If the first onion fails, the second onion certainly fails. Therefore, in order to send such two Saturday onions, you need to calculate the expected value.

E(2 sats) = 1 sat * 4/5 + 1 sat * 3/5 = 7/5 sats

This gives you the following total expected value:

E(3 sats) = 2/3 sats + 7/5 sats = 10/30 sats + 21/15 sats = 31/15 sats

thought

There are results just for comparison

• Option a: 18/15
• Option b: 28/15
• Option c: 33/15
• Option d: 31/15

Option B certainly seems correct, but it makes sense to further analyze the two SATS onions. In the simulation, option D appears to be correct. This is a bit surprising to me. Using the formalism of probability theory, the difference between the 2 SAT paths is as follows:

• Option c: E(2 sats) = 1 sat * P(X>=1) + 1 sat * P(X>=2 | X >= 1)
• Option d: E(2 sats) = 1 sat * P(X>=1) + 1 sat * P(X>=2)

As mentioned earlier, the simulated setting indicates that option D is correct, but that is very surprising to me as I expect the second term to be a conditional probability.

Bottom line: The first three Stalker titles: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat, will receive substantial updates on May 20. The enhanced editions feature upgraded graphics and numerous quality-of-life improvements. Veteran players will receive the updated versions for free for each title they already own on Steam or GOG.

GSC Game World has shared details about the long-awaited enhanced editions. These include updated system requirements which, while significantly higher than those of the original releases, feel modest by today’s standards.

Visual enhancements include god rays, dynamic screen-space reflections, global illumination, new water shaders, improved skyboxes, upscaled textures, and higher polygon counts.

The user interface has also been refreshed, with full gamepad support and other usability improvements. While the in-game content and AI remain unchanged, GSC Game World has addressed numerous bugs – something longtime Stalker fans have come to expect.

Click to enlarge

Since these remasters are based on games originally released in 2007, 2008, and 2010, modern mid-range and mainstream PCs should run them easily. At 1080p on low settings, even older GPUs like the Nvidia GTX 960 and AMD Radeon RX 560 can still achieve 60 fps.

For 4K gameplay, a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or Radeon 6800 XT is recommended. Depending on VRAM requirements, GPUs like the RTX 3070, 4070, or the upcoming 5060 Ti may offer similar performance. FSR upscaling is supported, but not DLSS or XeSS. Despite the improved visuals, storage demands remain modest, with each game requiring only around 10 GB.

Unfortunately, moving to the enhanced editions means Stalker’s extensive modding community will have to start from scratch, as existing mods and save files won’t be compatible. However, the new versions include Steam Workshop support for easier mod installation and will not replace the original versions.

Owners of Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, or Call of Pripyat will see the enhanced editions appear as separate games in their Steam or GOG libraries when they go live on May 20.

For new players, the updated titles will be available individually for $20 or as a $40 bundle, both of which include the original versions.

The effort to revisit the classic Stalker games began last year, when GSC Game World released the first-ever console ports in a bundle titled Stalker: Shadows of the Zone Trilogy for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Next week’s update brings the enhanced package to Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles.

Cardano is rising sharply beyond the triangular resistance line

In a new post from X, analyst Ali Martinez spoke about the technical analysis (TA) patterns formed on Cardano hourly wages. The pattern in question is a triangle, formed when assets merge between two convergence trend lines.

The top trendlines may serve as a source of resistance in the future, but the bottom trends can provide support. Like many other TA integration patterns, a break beyond any of these lines could mean a continuation of trends in that direction.

A converging trend line means that as prices move within this type of integrated channel, they gradually narrow until the range is compressed to the point.

There are several different types of triangles in the TA. The most popular variations include rising, falling and symmetrical triangles. In the context of the current topic, the associated triangle is closest to one third of these. In this pattern, the trend lines converge with one another and head towards the midpoint with roughly equally opposite slopes.

Below is a chart shared by analysts showing the triangles Cardano traded internally up until past days.

As can be seen in the graph, Cardano had been moving through this triangle for almost three weeks before the break arrived on the past day. Just before the break, the coin was approaching the top of the triangle. In other words, the integration was extremely tense.

Generally, a narrower asset range makes breakouts more possible. Yesterday, before the ADA found a break, analysts shared the same chart of a triangle.

Martinez had pointed out that the movement could potentially result in a swing equal to 27% based on the height of the triangle from the bottom of the lowest price. The question was in which direction the breakout would occur.

In a symmetrical triangle, breakouts are likely equal in both directions. The triangle Cardano was following was not a perfectly symmetrical triangle due to the bias that it rose slightly. This means that a break to benefits may be more likely, albeit only in a small way.

This slight advantage seems to have worked for the ADA this time. That price is currently rising above the upper resistance line. Now it is still unclear whether this movement will grow to 27%, suggesting by the height of the triangle.

ADA Price

At the time of writing, Cardano has increased by more than 4% over the past seven days.

Something to look forward to: AMD has confirmed the pricing and launch date for its latest high-performance processors, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with MSRPs of $699 and $599, respectively. Both models are set to launch in a few days on March 12. Expect the full TechSpot review very soon.

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a powerhouse, featuring 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock speed of 4.3 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.7 GHz. It boasts 144MB of total cache, including AMD’s second-generation 3D V-Cache technology, which enhances performance by expanding the L3 cache. The processor operates at a TDP of 170W, reflecting its high-performance capabilities.

In contrast, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D offers 12 cores and 24 threads, with a slightly higher base clock speed of 4.4 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.5 GHz. It features 140MB of total cache, including 3D V-Cache, and operates at a lower TDP of 120W.

This model is designed to balance performance and power efficiency, making it appealing to users who need robust processing power without excessive energy consumption.

The world’s best processor for gaming and content creation is almost here.

Available starting March 12th
Ryzen 9 9950X3D – $699
Ryzen 9 9900X3D – $599

A huge thank you to our incredible community of gamers, creators, and innovators for your continued support. Together,… pic.twitter.com/ino6ZNMvi6

– Jack Huynh (@JackMHuynh) March 7, 2025

AMD claims that the Ryzen 9 9950X3D offers up to 20% better gaming performance than Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K in certain scenarios. However, when directly compared to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, gaming performance is generally comparable, with slight variations depending on the game engine and core utilization.

Furthermore, according to AMD’s product and business development manager, Martijn Boonstra, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D will not surpass the impressive gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which has been praised as a top-tier gaming CPU since its release.

Instead, they are expected to deliver “comparable overall gaming performance” to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. In an interview with VideoGamer, Boonstra explained that while the new chips may be slightly faster in some games that leverage additional cores, they may lag behind in others.

Beyond gaming, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is meant to excel in multi-threaded applications such as video encoding, 3D rendering, and complex simulations. Its high core count and clock speeds also make it well-suited for single-threaded tasks, including CAD applications and content creation tools.