HSBC has invested in Elliptic, a blockchain analytics provider headquartered in London, becoming the fourth global systemically important bank to support the firm after JPMorgan Chase, Santander, and Wells Fargo. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Following the investment, Richard May, group head of financial crime, corporate and institutional banking at HSBC, joined Elliptic’s board of directors.

According to Elliptic, the investment from HSBC will further accelerate the company’s expansion plans, following record-breaking customer and revenue growth in the second quarter of 2025.

HSBC is one of the 11 financial institutions participating in the second phase of the e-HKD pilot programme, a project of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to explore new forms of digital money.  

Under the programme, HSBC will test how digital money can operate securely on permissioned protocols on public distributed ledger technology ( DLT ) environments for storing and transferring value, potentially serve as a settlement utility for tokenized assets, and address privacy concerns.

Amid a surge in interest from financial institutions in stablecoins and tokenized assets, Elliptic recently announced a stablecoin solution for banks to assess issuer wallet risk before holding stablecoin reserves.

“For over a decade, we’ve anticipated the enterprise adoption of digital assets and have invested in the robustness, scale, and compliance capabilities required by global financial institutions,” says Elliptic chief executive officer Simone Maini. “This is validation of our vision and strategy and the market’s growing needs.”

HSBC’s May adds: “With the rapid evolution of digital assets and currencies, mitigating financial crime risks has never been more important. Elliptic’s solution provides HSBC with greater transparency, helping to meet rising regulatory expectations and industry standards.”