📈 RWAs Lead The Market?

RWA World Newsletter - July 18, 2025

Author

Ray Buckton
July 18, 2025

New all-time highs once again – and Ray Buckton, Head of Research at RWA World, 110% here for it. 😄

Could we go even higher? It’s likely given that Ethereum is quietly entering a supply crunch. BTCT announced a 1 million Ether reserve, with the asset already up ~6% on GENIUS Act news, as RWA-related M&A activity picks up in the United States. 🌋

🎯🔥 Rapid Fire Takeaways:

There’s a good reason for the US-centric activity—we’re on the cusp of the GENUIS Act passing (if it hasn’t already passed by the time this hits your inbox). 🎉

Stay informed as the market heats up every Tuesday and Thursday at 2 pm EDT on Wolf Crypto. If you’d like to speak on the panel, message Ray via email or message on X. 🐺

🏛️ Govs, Regs, and Associations

A BIS report says tokenized bonds show tighter spreads, while the Fed explores how stablecoins can lower payment prices. Stablecoins are essential for dollar dominance – a good reason to kick off “Crypto Week” in the US. A big week indeed, with the IRS removing anti-DeFi broker rules, Congress preparing three bills relating to digital assets, and agencies outlining rules for bank digital asset custody. Any questions? SEC Commissioner Pierce invites token issuers to come chat and get clarity. 🦅

Islands had a mixed week. The Cayman Islands clarified their tokenized fund rules, the EU regulators eye Malta’s MiCA, plus private stablecoins spooked the BoE governor, calling them “no substitute for commercial bank money.” The ECB is now heavily promoting the digital euro, as the German state bank issued a €100M bond on Polygon. Further south, the Bank of Ghana wants digital asset firms to register by August 15th, and Kenya is launching digital asset tokens of its own. 🗺️

Asia is once again crushing it. Hong Kong’s new LEAP framework underpins its digital asset strategy, “solving real problems,” as HSBC pilots the e-HKD. The mainland is noticing, with Chinese regulators holding stablecoin meetings and merchants seeking subsidiaries for Hong Kong licenses. South Korea is also pushing ahead with its new stablecoin model, as further afield, Uzbekistan is registering tokenized government bonds. 🐉

🌊 Big Money and Collaborations

Acquisitions are gaining momentum, with Ondo Finance buying Strangelove to expand its developer capacity and BSGM buying an SEC-registered broker-dealer to expand operations. We’re also seeing big moves on the investment side: 

What’s an acquisition without some friends to celebrate with? The big partnership of the week is Ant Group’s collaboration with Circle to integrate USDC into its ecosystem. But naturally, that’s not the only buddying up we’re seeing this week: 

Lots happening in the market. And the asset powering it all? Stablecoins.

👛 Stablecoins Dominating

According to Circle’s CEO, stablecoins are going mainstream fast. While they’re reshaping the yield curve and threatening bank deposits, we’re seeing non-USD stablecoins gaining traction. But even the euro has yet to dent USD dominance, with USDT hitting $160 billion. They’re not alone – Falcon Finance’s USDf is minting using Treasuries, while Bitrue launched USD1 as the base pair on its exchange. Speaking of speed, Snail stock soared on stablecoin news, ironically. 🐌

Incumbents are sprinting, with PayPal adding Arbitrum support for PYUSD, Amaze going crypto-forward, and Stripe expanding globally using stablecoins. New players are eating market share, with Circle launching First National Digital Currency Bank and Core introducing a revenue-sharing model for stablecoin issuers. Stablecoins are integrating heavily with banking, with Fiserv’s new FIUSD playing a role, while Plasma is testing global stablecoin payments. 🧪

As Ripple expands RLUSD in the EU, Tether sunsets five legacy blockchains to consolidate. As City View brings stablecoins to its treasury management, much larger entity Citigroup is considering issuing a Citi Stablecoin, joining the bank bonanza. The race is on for stablecoin dominance, as ChinaAMC launched both USD and RMB tokenized money market funds, and Shanghai’s SASAC meeting signals a softer stance on stablecoin issuances. ⚖️

🆕 New Platforms, Programs, Tools, and Integrations, Oh My! 

You’d be forgiven if you thought Alchemy Pay expanding its US presence with a South Carolina MTL license was one of the few new developments this week. In reality, there is so much more to cover on the integration and expansion front: 

To quote the late, great Ron Popeil, “But wait, there’s more!” Tons of launches to cover this week as well: 

Worn out from all this fantastic tokenization news and progress? Good, neither are we. 😉

🌌 RWA Sectors & Ecosystems

Solana is making moves, catching up to competitors as tokenzied assets soar 140% on the chain. Upexi plans to buy 1.65 million SOL as Amber International becomes the first Asia-based public company tokenzied on Solana. Ripple is also rising, targeting the $685 billion remittance market with RLUSD via its National Trust Bank expansion play. Can’t forget Bitcoin, with tBTC now live on Sui and Calamos’ Bitcoin ETF strategy tied to five major BTC funds. 📊

On the insurance side, Members Capital Management completed a tokenized reinsurance deployment. Meanwhile, the tokenized real estate sector is booming, with the UAE’s Prypco selling out a villa in under five minutes and Singapore easing private access to the asset class. Japanese firm GATES is tokenizing $75 million in Tokyo property, showing the global reach of that tokenization across all jurisdictions. 🌐

🏎️ Where Will We Go Next?

RWA World is here to reliably bring you the best coverage of the space, every week, without fail.

Seriously, this is the 80th week without missing a beat ✅

We’ll see you in week 81 with more blockbuster headlines and market-moving news. 

Until then - have a great week!