The international unit of Alipay owner Ant Group plans to seek stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Ant International will apply for a stablecoin issuer’s license once the regulatory regime comes into effect in August, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm is also planning to apply for a similar license in its native Singapore, as well as Luxembourg.

Hong Kong has been establishing a stablecoin regime since 2023, with the legislation expected to go into effect in August.

Stablecoins are tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, such as a fiat currency, providing a counterweight to the volatility of BTC, ETH and other cryptos.

As such they may represent an entry point to the digital asset market for major financial or technological companies. Progress toward stablecoin regulation in the world’s most prominent markets, particularly the U.S., should help accelerate this trend.

Alipay is referred to as the largest mobile payment platform in the world with over a billion users, thanks to being the most dominant provider in China, where it holds a share of 55% in the third-party payment market.

Ant International did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for further comment.

Read More: Sam Altman’s World Chain Adds Native USDC Stablecoin and Circle’s Cross-Chain Service

Mercurity Fintech Holding (MFH) is raising $800 million to establish a bitcoin BTC treasury, the company announced in a press release.

The New York-based fintech group said the funds will support a multi-pronged strategy: acquiring bitcoin, storing it in blockchain-native custodial infrastructure, and integrating it into a system that includes tokenized treasury tools and staking services.

That means Mercurity isn’t just betting on a BTC treasury, but it’s trying to move into a “yield-generating, blockchain-aligned reserve structure.”

“Bitcoin will become an essential component of the future financial infrastructure,” CEO Shi Qiu said in the release. “We are positioning our company to be a key player in the evolving digital financial ecosystem.»

The company did not disclose whether the funds would be raised through debt, equity, or other financing mechanisms.

The fundraising announcement coincides with news that Mercurity is slated for inclusion in the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes.

MFH operates cryptocurrency mining facilities focusing on bitcoin and filecoin. It also develops liquid cooling solutions for AI data centers, and offers financial services to institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

The company’s shares went up 1.9% in yesterday’s trading session but dropped 2.84% in after-hours trading.

Wednesday’s auction of 10-year U.S. Treasury notes undermined the narrative that investors are moving away from U.S. government debt, the bedrock of global finance, and pouring money instead into bitcoin BTC and gold.

Thursday’s sale of $22 billion of 30-year bonds may provide further clues to investor confidence in the fiscal policies of U.S. President Donald Trump since he initiated the global trade war in early April and help signal whether the notes are losing their shine as the premier fixed-income instrument backed by the deepest liquidity and low credit risk.

At the June 11 auction, demand for the $39 billion of 10-year notes, which offered a yield of 4.421%, outstripped supply by more than 2.5 times, according to Exante Data, and the primary dealer takedown was reportedly just 9%, the fourth-lowest on record. That’s a sign investors did most of the heavy buying. Primary dealers are the institutions authorized by the central bank to trade government bonds, and the takedown refers to the amount of newly issued debt they absorb themselves.

Worsening debt situation

As of June, the U.S. total gross national debt is over $36 trillion, more than 120% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The deficit, or the excess of government expenditure over revenue, was $1.8 trillion in 2024. The figure is expected to increase by $2.4 trillion in the coming years due to Trump’s tax cut plans. As of now, the U.S. pays $1 trillion as the cost of servicing the debt.

The new issuance, therefore, is more likely to exacerbate the problem and has several analysts pointing to bitcoin and gold as a hedge against the fiscal crisis.