🚀 A $48 Billion Market Cap?

By the time you’re reading this, Bitcoin might already be at $100,000 – and if not, it’s probably close. 🤯

While they can’t yet hold a candle to big daddy Bitcoins market cap, STM revealed their total security token market cap of $48 billion – more than some assumed. Bitcoin isn’t the only digital asset making gains. 💪

🎯🔥 Rapid Fire Takeaways:

🛢️ Tether Trade Finance Completes Funding of First Middle Eastern Crude Oil Transaction

⚜️ French authorities issue €100 Million in tokenized bonds using blockchain

🤝 Bank of Korea Embarks on Digital Currency Pilot with Seven Leading Banks

🛡️ Governor Waller defends the Federal Reserve following Musk re-tweet questioning its role

🦘 Australia to trial wholesale CBDC for asset tokenization in 2025. Invites participants

💷 UK to Trial Sales of Blockchain-Based Gilts Within Two Years

🌐 BlackRock's tokenized fund BUIDL expanding to Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon

New securities are coming on-chain every day… but sometimes nine figures at a time. 💰

French authorities recently issued €100 Million in tokenized bonds with Euroclear, further pushing up the market cap of traditional assets on digital ledgers. 💻

🥚 Institutions Egg On Tokenization Initiatives

France wasn’t the only jurisdiction on a roll this week. The UK is set to trial blockchain-based gilts by 2027 to stay ahead of the pack on tokenization. Germany isn’t out of the race, either. Deutsche Bundesbank joined Project Guardian, further bolstering the Singaporean initiative’s ranks. 🤺

No wonder participants are begging the ECB to extend their wholesale DLT trial process – there’s a lot to learn and implement regarding asset tokenization. Intesa Sanpaolo is proof of that – they just tokenized commercial paper as a part of the trials. 🔍

Some entities, like AFME, are already implementing what they have learned. They recommend using DLT to fix central security deposit issues, using Europe’s MiCA laws as a framework. Others like DWF Labs and UCLA are partnering up on tokenzied securities education, while R3 and Radian are collaborating on tokenized title transfers and insurance. 🤝

🤹 Digital Cash, Stablecoins, and Central Banks

Of course, not a week goes by without us touching on stablecoins, the original RWA. This week’s big news is Amazon’s collaboration with StratisX (whom we mentioned in last week’s newsletter) and NTT Digital to use stablecoins for tokenized seller receivables. 👀

But stablecoins aren’t the only horse in this race – digital currencies are becoming more vogue, with the Bank of Korea partnering with seven leading banks on a digital currency pilot in the country. ABN ARMO has already completed its second round of tests for the Eurosystem digital currency, and Australia is primed to trial wholesale CBDCs by 2025. 🏇

UBS is also rocking and rolling with digital cash—they’re exploring a blockchain-based payment system for multi-currency payments. But perhaps nowhere is China more ready for digital currency than China, which upgraded its RMB CBDC hardware wallet. Last week, we covered how many Huawei phones are already prepped to use the Chinese CBDC without needing any additional software upgrades. 🐉

📜 Fun Funds and Tether Transforming

Remember Boston Consulting Group predicting $600 billion in tokenized assets, including $100 billion in mutual funds, sooner rather than later? Well, we’re getting there quickly. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund expanded to five new blockchains this week: Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon. Libeara and FundBridge also launched a US treasury fund on Avalanche, giving it a slightly better week than the other five. 🤏

Anemoy’s liquid treasury fund became the first tokenized fund to be rated by Moody’s and Particula this week, marking another watershed moment for the investability of tokenzied products. Meanwhile, Avalon Labs launched a new Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, USDa, with a floating APY between 20% and 50%. 📊

Those returns are juicy but not as juicy as Tether’s business model. The stablecoin OG is now plowing profits into tokenized commodity trade financing, recently funding a $43 million oil deal. While some are encouraged, some at the Federal Reserve feel on their back foot, given Musk’s recent comments on their ineffectiveness. Governor Waller took to the stage to defend the Fed, saying it’s worth its salt after all… time will have to tell. 🧂

🌐 Every Day RWA (World) 

We never fail to bring you the best of the best of tokenization week after week.

It’s our pleasure to watch this industry grow by leaps and bounds. 

If there’s ever a connection or introduction you need, don’t hesitate to reach out! 

We’re here to help the industry grow however we can. 🤝

See you next week!