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🎯 RWA Poaching White House Talent

RWA World Newsletter - Aug 22, 2025

Author

Ray Buckton
August 22, 2025

Another blockbuster week for RWA – Ray Buckton, Head of Research at RWA World, winding it down in style. 🕺

Kind of like how ex-crypto advisor to the White House, Bo Hines, is winding down his role in Washington and picking up a role with Tether as their US Strategy Advisor. ♟️

🎯🔥 Rapid Fire Takeaways:

The new job makes sense — tokenization is poised to hit $2 trillion by 2028, and DeFi is at an inflection point thanks to the new wave of regulatory clarity. 📜

Learn from the dream team of RWAS on Tuesday and Thursday at 2 pm EDT with Wolf Bitcoin. Email or message RWA World on X if you’re working in RWA and want to participate in the conversation. 🐺

🏛️ Govs, Regs, and Associations

Tokenization regulation continues to heat up globally, with the BIS proposing compliance scores to revamp crypto AML. Naturally, the US is the hottest of the bunch, with GENIUS Act loopholes potentially closing, the Fed removing hurdles for crypto bankers, and OFAC clamping down on stablecoins being used for sanctions violations. The First Family is taking full advantage, with Eric and Donald Trump Jr closing a $1.5 billion DeFi deal. 🦅

The SEC is making big moves, launching a digital assets group to modernize crypto regulations, as Commissioner Pierce is mostly leaving tokenization to the market. Alternatively, while the Treasury wants feedback on stablecoin rules, it's also debating a digital ID to clean up illicit finance in DeFi. Across the pond, Europe is accelerating its digital asset plans to fight dollar-denominated stablecoin dominance. ⚔️

On the Asian continent, Bahrain kicked off the GCC’s first stablecoin regulatory framework, as Japan approved the first yen-backed stablecoin for the fall. South Korea continues progressing, fast-tracking crypto reforms and reorganizing AML protocols ahead of new legislation. In Malaysia, NexStox became the fifth licensed digital exchange in the country. 🌏

How could we forget Hong Kong? The jurisdiction's new stablecoin licensing regime is making a significant impact, with banks potentially being the first issuers. The legislation has paved the way to revitalize the city-state’s trade finance market, with compliance clampdowns and cold wallet rules firmly in place to govern activities. Maybe this will help abate some of China’s worries over dollar-backed stablecoins. 🐲

📊 Tokenization Developments

The market is evolving faster than ever. Mysten Labs appointed an ex-Goldman digital assets head to expand its capital market initiative. Wells Fargo and Abu Dhabi are collaborating on Bitcoin ETFs, and majors like BlackRock, JPM, and Citi are betting massively on tokenization taking over. No wonder – Figure’s IPO is going great, and Centrifuge soared past $1 billion TVL. 🚀

Investment is also a big part of this growth. Circle acquired Malachite outright to power its new Arc blockchain network, while others secured some nice funding:

Sometimes it’s more about partnerships rather than funding. FIS partnered with Circle for tokenized deposits, while VeChain and Franklin Templeton did the same to expand tokenized finance. And they’re not alone: 

Developments, investments, and partnerships abound. It’s a great time to be building in asset tokenization.

👛 Stablecoins

With stablecoin projected to hit $1 trillion in payments by 2030, there’s speculation that Tether could become the “Fed of crypto” – no wonder Bo Hines jumped on that advisory position. Ethereum stablecoin growth is surging on the back of regulatory clarity and L2 adoption, as TRON continues to serve an outsized role in the global stablecoin economy. As this “gigantic market” continues to emerge, the proof is clear – Bullish settled its $1.15 IPO in stablecoins. 💱

Companies are taking full advantage, with MetaMask launching mUSD, MetaComp using its carbon stablecoin CNT for cross-border payments, and the first Bitcoin Lightning network bridge for USDT coming online. Europe is also working hard, with Wirex expanding EURC settlements and Spar rolling out nationwide stablecoin and crypto payments in Switzerland. As BenFen launches gas-free stablecoin transfers, Wyoming’s “Frontier” stablecoin launched on multiple chains. 🤠

The GENIUS Act drives many of these integrations and expansions, with Citigroup eyeing custody services and ETF plays. Corporate activity involving stablecoins is slowly reaching a fever pitch, as Yellow Card appoints a new VP of Strategy to focus on the sector. Nevertheless, despite the race to capture market share, experts are urging financial institutions to limit interest payments on stablecoins to reduce risk. 🏃

🆕 New Platforms, Programs, Tools, and Integrations

Everyone loves that new car smell… but what do new integrations smell like? We have plenty of examples to get a better idea: 

Fresh launches also tantalize the senses, and there are tons of those to go around this week as well:

Innovation never sleeps – especially when it comes to RWA.

🌐 RWA Sectors & Ecosystems

Treasuries are getting interesting, with Pantera making a big $300 million investment push and Faraday Future launching a $30 million version while exploring tokenized car sales. Real estate is also on the menu, with DWF Labs signing a UAE real estate agreement and preparing the first crypto-backed mortgage, as Figure says blockchain may significantly enhance mortgage markets as a whole. 🏠

Tokenized stocks and funds continue to impress, with Bitget rolling them out and Hedera joining the party via KAIO. Dinari launched tokenized funds on Avalanche as SryBridge Capital aims to do the same with $300 million of its fund portfolio. As S&P Dow Jones talks about bringing tokenized indexes to exchanges, Securitize’s Michael Sonnenshein dives into tokenized equities. 🥽

😌 Another Great Week

It’s such a pleasure to be working alongside such bright minds and stalwart builders in asset tokenization. 

RWA World has quickly become the go-to advisory for aspiring tokenization initiatives and companies.

Learn more about how we can help supercharge your mind and market share.

Until next week – happy building!