Highlights of this episode
This week's statistics cover the period from January 24, 2026 to January 30, 2026.
This week, the total market capitalization of RWA on-chain increased significantly by 14.96% to $24.25 billion, and the number of holders surged by 36.37% to over 820,000, indicating a rapid increase in market participation. The total market capitalization of stablecoins decreased slightly, but the monthly transaction volume soared to $9.31 trillion, with a turnover rate of 31.4 times, highlighting that funds are circulating frequently within the system and that the ecosystem lacks momentum for expansion.
From a regulatory perspective: the U.S. SEC has clarified the classification and applicable laws for tokenized securities; South Korea has finalized the "Digital Asset Basic Law" which sets minimum capital requirements for stablecoin issuers; and the UK has launched a regulatory investigation into stablecoins. The global compliance path is becoming increasingly clear.
At the institutional level: Binance is considering restarting tokenized stock trading; R3 announced its transformation to a Solana-based tokenized capital market; Fidelity will launch FIDD, a stablecoin compliant with the GENIUS standard; and Tether launched USA₮ for the US market, demonstrating that mainstream institutions are actively integrating traditional assets onto the blockchain. Payment scenarios continue to deepen, with OKX Card launching in Europe to promote the everyday payment applications of stablecoins.
Data Perspective
RWA Track Panorama
According to the latest data disclosed by RWA.xyz, as of January 30, 2026, the total market capitalization of RWA on-chain reached US$24.25 billion, an increase of 14.96% compared to the same period last month, marking a new high in recent growth. The total number of asset holders increased to approximately 821,900, a significant increase of 36.37% compared to the same period last month, reflecting a rapid increase in market participation.
According to Coingecko data, the total market capitalization of tokenized gold and silver once exceeded $6 billion, setting a new all-time high, and is currently around $5.906 billion. Of this, tokenized gold currently has a total market capitalization of approximately $5.462 billion, and tokenized silver currently has a total market capitalization of approximately $444 million.
Stablecoin Market
The total market capitalization of stablecoins shrank to $296.05 billion, a slight decrease of 0.6% compared to the same period last month, reflecting that the scale of funds is still shrinking; monthly transaction volume surged to $9.31 trillion, a dramatic increase of 41.21% compared to the same period last month, and the turnover rate of existing funds (transaction volume/market capitalization) climbed to 31.4 times.
The total number of monthly active addresses increased to 46.39 million, up 4.45% month-on-month; the total number of holders reached 221 million, up 3.33% month-on-month. The user base is slowly expanding, but the growth rates of both are far lower than the growth rate of transaction volume.
The sharp divergence between the shrinking market capitalization and the surge in transaction volume indicates that the funds were not used for ecosystem expansion, but were instead circulating frequently within the system.
The leading stablecoins are USDT, USDC, and USDS. Among them, the market capitalization of USDT decreased slightly by 0.58% month-on-month; the market capitalization of USDC decreased by 5.97% month-on-month; and the market capitalization of USDS increased slightly by 3.66% month-on-month.
Regulatory news
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement providing an official explanation of the classification and applicable law for tokenized securities, clarifying the applicability of federal securities law to crypto assets. The statement defines "tokenized securities" as financial instruments embodied in crypto assets, with ownership records maintained wholly or partially through a crypto network. Its core classification includes tokenized securities issued by issuers and tokenized securities issued by third parties.
For tokenized securities issued by the issuer, the issuer integrates blockchain technology into its shareholder register system, enabling on-chain asset transfers to directly correspond to changes in shareholding. The SEC emphasizes that the form of securities issuance does not affect the applicability of securities laws, and all offerings and sales require registration or exemption. Third-party tokenized securities are mainly divided into two models: First, custodial tokenized securities, where a third party issues crypto assets representing the underlying securities, which represent the holder's rights in the custodial underlying securities. Second, synthetic tokenized securities, where a third party issues crypto assets of its own securities to provide synthetic exposure; these assets may be linked securities or security swaps. The SEC emphasizes that third-party tokenized products may introduce additional counterparty and bankruptcy risks, and in some cases, are subject to stricter security swap regulations.
The SEC specifically pointed out that the sale of crypto assets representing security swaps to non-eligible contract participants must be registered under securities laws and traded on a national securities exchange. Determining whether a crypto asset financial instrument qualifies as a security swap should be based on its economic substance, not its name. The SEC stated it is prepared to communicate with market participants on related issues.
According to South Korean media reports, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea has finalized the name of its bill aimed at regulating the virtual asset market as the "Digital Asset Basic Law" and plans to submit it before the New Year holiday (Korean Lunar New Year). They have also agreed to set the minimum legal capital requirement for stablecoin issuers at 5 billion won (approximately US$3.5 million). However, sensitive issues such as the scope of authority of the Bank of Korea and restrictions on major shareholder holdings will be finalized after further coordination with the policy committee.
The UK Financial Services Regulatory Commission launches investigation into stablecoin regulations.
The UK House of Lords Financial Services Regulatory Committee announced today the launch of an inquiry into the growth of stablecoins and proposed regulations, and is now soliciting opinions and evidence. The inquiry will focus on the development of the global stablecoin market, the future trends of pound-denominated stablecoins, the potential impact of stablecoins on the UK economy and financial services, and the applicability of the proposed regulatory framework by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Committee Chair Baroness Noakes, DBE, stated that the investigation aims to assess the opportunities and risks posed by the growth of stablecoins and to explore whether the regulatory framework proposed by the Bank of England and the FCA can effectively address these changes. Experts and interested parties in the field are welcome to submit their opinions.
Local News
Hang Seng's first Hong Kong ETF (03170.HK) that allows users to exchange physical gold at banks was listed on January 29.
As previously reported by AASTOCKS, Hang Seng Investments has recently launched a new gold ETF, the "Hang Seng Gold ETF," which holds physical gold. All gold bars will be stored in a designated vault in Hong Kong. The ETF also plans to establish tokenized, unlisted fund units, with HSBC acting as the tokenization agent. Initially, Ethereum will be used as the primary blockchain, but this may be expanded to other public blockchains with equivalent security and distributed ledger technology in the future. Fund unit holders can only subscribe to or redeem tokenized fund units through qualified distributors; these tokenized units will not be traded on a secondary market.
Project progress
OpenEden, FalconX, and Monarq jointly launched the tokenized yield portfolio PRISM.
According to their official blog, OpenEden, FalconX, and Monarq jointly announced the upcoming launch of PRISM, a tokenized yield investment portfolio. This product aims to achieve stable returns throughout market cycles and maintain a low correlation with cryptocurrency prices through a multi-strategy quantitative model actively managed by Monarq.
PRISM's investment strategy includes spot-to-futures arbitrage, over-collateralized lending to institutional counterparties, participation in established on-chain yield platforms, and allocation to regulated tokenized real-world assets, including US Treasury-backed assets. Yields will be distributed through a staking mechanism, allowing users to stake PRISM to earn xPRISM, a value-accumulating certificate reflecting portfolio performance over time. The product is currently based on the Ethereum network and will gradually expand to more networks. PRISM has a limited pre-deposit program prior to launch.
According to Coindesk, Binance is considering relaunching stock tokenization trading. Stock tokens are digital representations of stocks, allowing investors to purchase partial shares (held and settled on the blockchain) instead of owning all of Apple or Microsoft's shares, reflecting the price of the underlying asset in real time. Binance previously shut down a similar product in 2021 due to regulatory pressure.
In addition, OKX, Coinbase, and traditional exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are also exploring stock tokenization, indicating a resurgence of interest in stock tokenization across the financial industry.
However, numerous legal and regulatory hurdles remain, as pending cryptocurrency market structure legislation and existing securities regulations in the United States could slow down or limit the rollout of equity tokenized products.
According to CoinDesk, blockchain technology developer R3 has announced a repositioning and transformation into a Solana-based tokenization and on-chain capital market. It will focus on high-yield institutional assets, such as private lending and trade finance, packaging them into DeFi-native structures. The aim is to bring Wall Street-level assets onto the blockchain and massively integrate off-chain capital into the on-chain market. Reportedly, R3 already supports over $10 billion in assets through its Corda blockchain platform and has partnered with banks such as HSBC, Bank of America, Bank of Italy, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Swiss National Bank, Euroclear, SDX, and SBI.
WisdomTree expands its tokenized fund onto the Solana blockchain.
According to Coindesk, New York-based asset management firm WisdomTree is expanding its tokenized funds to the Solana blockchain, driving multi-chain development. Institutional and individual investors can issue, trade, and hold tokenized funds on Solana through WisdomTree Connect and WisdomTree Prime.
Fidelity will launch FIDD, a stablecoin compliant with the GENIUS standard, on Ethereum.
According to Bloomberg, Fidelity will launch a GENIUS-compliant stablecoin, FIDD, on Ethereum. The Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) will be issued by the Fidelity Digital Assets National Association, a national trust bank that received a conditional operating license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last December.
The Central Bank of the UAE has approved Universal Digital to issue the USDU stablecoin.
According to CoinDesk, the Central Bank of the UAE has approved USDU, the country's first US dollar-backed stablecoin, under its Payment Token Services Regulation. The stablecoin is issued and managed by Universal Digital, a crypto company regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
USDU is pegged 1:1 to US dollar reserves, with the funds held in secured accounts at onshore banks such as the National Bank of the UAE and Mashreq Bank. This marks the first time a US dollar stablecoin has officially operated under a central bank payment regulatory framework. Aquanow has been appointed as the global distribution partner, providing access to USDU to institutions outside the UAE in licensed regions.
Tether launches a new stablecoin, USA₮, targeting the US market.
Tether has officially launched its USD-denominated stablecoin, USA₮, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, NA. This product operates under the newly passed GENIUS Act federal stablecoin framework in the United States. USA₮ is custodied and held in reserve by Cantor Fitzgerald and is issued to US institutions and platforms, initially including Bybit, Crypto.com, Kraken, OKX, and Moonpay. Tether stated that the globally circulating USD₮ will continue to comply with GENIUS Act requirements, while USA₮ is specifically designed for the highly regulated US environment and issued through a federally regulated bank. Tether Operations also emphasized that USA₮ is not a legal tender and is not insured by government agencies such as the FDIC or SIPC.
Coinbase is testing Flipcash's developing stablecoin USDF on its backend.
According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase is testing USDF, a stablecoin developed by Flipcash, as part of its "Coinbase Custom Stablecoins" feature. Launched last December, this feature allows businesses to create their own branded USD stablecoins, backed by Circle's USDC collateral, and supports seamless fund transfers across Coinbase-compatible chains.
Coinbase stated on its X platform that USDF is currently operational and undergoing testing on the Coinbase exchange backend, but trading, deposit, and withdrawal functions are not yet available. Customized stablecoins can provide businesses with greater flexibility in areas such as payroll, B2B transactions, cross-border settlements, and fund management. In addition to Flipcash, Solflare, a self-custodied wallet focused on Solana, and R2, a decentralized finance platform, are also collaborating with Coinbase to develop their respective customized stablecoin solutions.
OKX Card officially launched in Europe, pushing stablecoin payments into everyday scenarios.
According to official sources, OKX Card is now officially launched in Europe. This product aims to integrate on-chain payments into daily life within a compliant framework, supporting users to make purchases using stablecoins and enabling real-time conversions, simplifying traditional payment processes and improving payment efficiency.
OKX stated that OKX Card is built around stablecoins and is designed for real-world payment scenarios, aiming to promote a more convenient and efficient payment experience and further explore the practical application value of stablecoins in the global financial system.
ZK-powered Bitcoin Layer 2 network Citrea mainnet launches and issues stablecoin.
According to The Block, Citrea, a Bitcoin Layer 2 project backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy, has officially launched its mainnet and introduced its native stablecoin ctUSD, powered by M0 infrastructure. Citrea uses zkEVM to process transactions and incorporates zero-knowledge proofs into the Bitcoin mainnet, supporting financial applications such as BTC-collateralized lending and structured products, with the goal of building a native Bitcoin financial market.
Theo launches thGOLD, a yield-generating gold token, achieving DeFi nativeization.
According to The Block, Theo has launched an innovative gold token, thGOLD, which combines physical gold collateral with a yield mechanism, distinguishing it from traditional token products that only track gold prices. This product is based on a gold lending fund in which Singapore's Mustafa Gold participates, with partners including Libera (backed by Standard Chartered) and FundBridge Capital. thGOLD will be listed on multiple DeFi platforms such as Uniswap, Morpho, and Pendle, marking the first time that physical gold assets have achieved on-chain yield and collateral functionality.
According to CoinDesk, Galaxy Digital led a $7 million funding round for Tenbin Labs, which aims to build tokenized gold and foreign exchange markets. The project focuses on bringing traditional financial assets onto the blockchain, expanding the practical application of crypto assets in global markets.
Doppler, a token creation platform, has raised $9 million in seed funding, led by Pantera Capital.
According to The Block, Doppler, a token creation and issuance protocol platform, has completed a $9 million seed funding round. The round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Variant, Figment Capital, and Coinbase Ventures. The team revealed that the funding will be completed in the second quarter of 2025 through a simple future equity agreement with token rights.
Doppler is one of two products under Whetstone Research, the other being Pure Markets. Doppler streamlines the processes of token deployment, liquidity launch, and governance through an integrated interface, and employs a price discovery auction mechanism designed to limit sniping and generate protocol-owned liquidity on the first day. The Doppler platform creates over 40,000 assets daily, with a cumulative value exceeding $1.5 billion and a cumulative trading volume exceeding $1 billion.
According to official sources, MSX has simultaneously launched spot and contract trading for US rare earth company $USAR.M, major North American silver producer $CDE.M, semiconductor equipment manufacturer $LRCX.M, semiconductor quality control leader $KLAC.M, process control supplier $MKSI.M, and uranium fuel supplier $CCJ.M.
Insights Highlights
According to a Coindesk report, a new report from consulting firm McKinsey and blockchain data company Artemis Analytics shows that stablecoins transferred over $35 trillion on the blockchain last year, but only about 1% of that was for real-world payments. The analysis estimates that only $380 billion in activity reflected actual payments, such as payments to suppliers, remittances, or payroll. This represents approximately 0.02% of total global payments, while McKinsey estimates that total global payments exceed $2 trillion annually.
According to The Block, Standard Chartered Bank released a report stating that the accelerated adoption of stablecoins could draw up to $500 billion in deposits from the US banking system by 2028, posing the greatest threat, especially to regional US banks that rely on deposit interest rate spreads. The bank predicts that the market capitalization of stablecoins will reach $2 trillion by then, with one-third coming from developed markets. Regulatory uncertainty and delays in legislation are also considered factors amplifying the risk.
PANews Overview: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) originally planned to launch an "exemption mechanism" in January of this year to provide fast-track access for crypto products such as tokenized securities, but it encountered strong resistance from Wall Street institutions, represented by JPMorgan Chase and Citadel.
During the closed-door meeting, Wall Street argued that such broad exemptions would circumvent established securities laws, weaken investor protection, and create market risks. They advocated that "the same business should be subject to the same rules" and demanded that tokenized assets be included in the existing regulatory framework.
Faced with pressure, the SEC chairman has withdrawn the original timetable, and the policy's implementation has been postponed. Meanwhile, the SEC issued guidance clarifying that tokenized securities, regardless of their form, are governed by securities laws as long as they are securities in nature, and categorizes them into two types: those issued directly by the issuer and those held in third-party custody.
At the heart of this debate is the conflict between the traditional financial sector's emphasis on stability and the crypto industry's pursuit of speed and innovation. As a result, innovation policies have reached a stalemate, and the market is waiting for clearer rules.
PANews Overview: Stablecoin USD1 saw its market capitalization surge to $4.9 billion in six months, surpassing PayPal and ranking among the top five globally.
Its issuer, World Liberty Financial, has deep ties to the Trump family. Its rapid success is not solely due to technology or market forces, but rather to three major strategies: First, it partnered with exchanges like Binance to launch subsidy programs with extremely high yields (such as an initial annualized return of 20%) to attract a massive number of users and funds; second, it actively expanded into "national-level" application scenarios, such as collaborating with the Central Bank of Pakistan to explore cross-border payments, attempting to upgrade from a commercial product to digital financial infrastructure; and third, it built a network of interests centered on political influence, allowing crypto giants supporting the project (such as Binance and Justin Sun) to potentially obtain reduced regulatory pressure, while the Trump family could receive up to 75% of the project's profits.
However, this "power-driven" model also brings huge hidden dangers: the USD1 reserve lacks transparency and liquidity is excessively concentrated. Its market confidence is extremely dependent on Trump's personal political status. Once the political environment changes, it may face a run on the bank or severe scrutiny, exposing the underlying fragility of its business model and extremely high political risks.
Afghanistan's stablecoin: an unexpected gem of crypto innovation.
PANews Overview: An Afghan startup called HesabPay has developed a blockchain-based transfer platform that uses digital wallets and stablecoins pegged to local currencies or the US dollar to provide humanitarian aid to conflict zones.
The platform has been licensed by the Afghan government and adopted by organizations such as the UNHCR to efficiently distribute aid to hundreds of thousands of families in Afghanistan, Syria, and other regions. Its core advantages lie in its ability to significantly reduce transfer fees, achieve near-instantaneous fund transfers, and leverage the transparency of blockchain technology to make fund flows traceable and monitorable, thus helping to rebuild trust among donors.
Despite the risk of being blocked by technology due to political or sanctioning factors, and the fact that digital currencies cannot be completely "invisible" like cash, the platform prevents fraud and illegal activities through real-time dashboards and automated compliance checks.
