JD.com, a large Chinese e-commerce company, is seeking to obtain a stablecoin license with the goal of global payment innovation. Chairman Liu Changdong stated that this plan could reduce cross-border payment costs by up to 90% and shorten payment settlement time to within 10 seconds.
JD.com plans to first apply stablecoin payments in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, gradually expanding to business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions. Its supply chain financial experience based on its own blockchain platform, 'Zhizhen Chain', will serve as the core foundation for this project. This platform has already processed transactions worth billions of dollars annually.
In particular, JD.com plans to actively utilize Hong Kong's fintech sandbox system to test its license operations. Hong Kong is set to formally implement stablecoin issuance licenses starting August 2025, which is creating an environment that facilitates global expansion for major Chinese tech companies like JD.com, Ant Group, and Tencent.
This attempt is interpreted as a strategic move to overcome the speed and cost limitations of existing international payment systems. Currently, corporate cross-border payments based on SWIFT take several days to process and involve high intermediary fees. JD.com aims to solve these issues through stablecoins and establish a real-time, low-cost payment infrastructure.
JD.com's customer base of approximately 600 million and its own global logistics network provide favorable conditions for introducing digital currency to general consumers. If this project succeeds, JD.com will create an opportunity to evolve from a simple e-commerce company to a global digital payment infrastructure company.
